Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Given New $57.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Mercantile Bank stock opened at $49.20 on Wednesday. Mercantile Bank has a 52-week low of $33.46 and a 52-week high of $52.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $794.58 million, a P/E ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank will post 4.68 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is presently 29.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total transaction of $300,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,810 shares in the company, valued at $1,025,167.50. This represents a 22.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank in the third quarter worth $89,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Mercantile Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, 626 Financial LLC bought a new position in Mercantile Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $213,000. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

About Mercantile Bank

Mercantile Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan that provides commercial and retail banking services to small- to medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, and term certificate accounts; time deposits; and certificates of deposit.