Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Price Target to $56.00

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) had its target price boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.62% from the stock’s previous close.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBWM traded up $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.17. The company had a trading volume of 15,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 68,107. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $809.74 million, a P/E ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.99. Mercantile Bank has a 12 month low of $33.46 and a 12 month high of $52.98. 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 results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $93.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.83 million. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total transaction of $300,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,810 shares in the company, valued at $1,025,167.50. The trade was a 22.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 10,550 shares of company stock worth $531,660 over the last three months. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 242.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Mercantile Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. 58.63% of the stock is 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.