Bailard Inc. Makes New Investment in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 14,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 77.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 3,235 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 7,250 shares of company stock worth $359,883 over the last 90 days. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ:MBWM opened at $46.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.78 and a 200 day moving average of $46.14. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $33.46 and a 52 week high of $52.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $748.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.00.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS 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 anticipate that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MBWM shares. Hovde Group upgraded Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

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.