Intellus Advisors LLC Invests $243,000 in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Mercantile Bank by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 389,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,349,000 after acquiring an additional 29,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Mercantile Bank by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,484,000 after acquiring an additional 14,202 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Mercantile Bank by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 287,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,790,000 after acquiring an additional 40,055 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Mercantile Bank by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,583,000 after acquiring an additional 8,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Mercantile Bank by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after acquiring an additional 21,411 shares in the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company 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 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MBWM opened at $44.25 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Mercantile Bank Co. has a one year low of $33.46 and a one year high of $52.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $718.22 million, a PE ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Mercantile Bank Profile

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.