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

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 126,200 shares, a decline of 22.1% from the October 15th total of 162,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 60,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $198,040.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,267,951.10. This trade represents a 13.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael H. Price sold 5,000 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $227,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $982,306.92. This represents a 18.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,500 shares of company stock worth $446,960. Insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Mercantile Bank in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 242.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 1,982 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MBWM traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.10. 52,195 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 59,511. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.48. Mercantile Bank has a 52 week low of $33.46 and a 52 week high of $51.31. The company has a market cap of $792.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86 and a beta 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. The firm had revenue of $93.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.92%.

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.