Insider Selling: Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Director Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.73, for a total transaction of $146,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,540,355.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Mercantile Bank stock opened at $47.96 on Thursday. Mercantile Bank Co. has a one year low of $30.12 and a one year high of $50.75. The company has a market cap of $773.16 million, a PE ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.46.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The company had revenue of $88.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.23 million. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 15.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Mercantile Bank from $42.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Mercantile Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 95.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 70,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 34,567 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the first quarter worth approximately $452,000. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter worth approximately $375,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 799,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,724,000 after acquiring an additional 13,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 8.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,791,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.