Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Short Interest Update

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) saw a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 64,700 shares, a decline of 21.2% from the February 13th total of 82,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 72,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $826,043.40. This trade represents a 15.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock worth $371,910 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Mercantile Bank during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $133,000. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MBWM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hovde Group raised shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

MBWM traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.47. The company had a trading volume of 30,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 62,189. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Mercantile Bank has a 1 year low of $33.46 and a 1 year high of $52.98. The company has a market cap of $738.02 million, a P/E ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts predict that Mercantile Bank will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is 29.90%.

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.