Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 64,700 shares, a decrease of 21.2% from the February 13th total of 82,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 72,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MBWM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Hovde Group upgraded Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Mercantile Bank stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 62,189. The company has a market cap of $738.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.16. Mercantile Bank has a 52-week low of $33.46 and a 52-week high of $52.98. 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 (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 21.99%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total value of $50,220.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,810 shares in the company, valued at $593,098.20. This represents a 7.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 869,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,696,000 after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 8.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 29,604 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 3.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 14,202 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $12,790,000 after buying an additional 40,055 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 286,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,756,000 after purchasing an additional 10,081 shares in the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercantile Bank Company 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.