Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,902 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mercantile Bank were worth $1,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MBWM. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 3.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 0.5% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 75,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total value of $150,480.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $692,709.60. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ MBWM opened at $43.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $710.92 million, a PE ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.98. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 1-year low of $33.46 and a 1-year high of $52.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.93 and a 200-day moving average of $46.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 21.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.