StockNews.com Lowers Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) to Hold

Posted by Amelie Mason on Mar 19th, 2023

StockNews.com cut shares of Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MBWM. Raymond James downgraded Mercantile Bank from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Piper Sandler raised Mercantile Bank from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their target price for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 7th.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Mercantile Bank stock opened at $30.29 on Wednesday. Mercantile Bank has a one year low of $29.26 and a one year high of $39.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.45. The company has a market cap of $484.49 million, a P/E ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.18. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 28.55%. The company had revenue of $58.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.70 million. As a group, analysts predict that Mercantile Bank will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 2nd. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is 34.29%.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In other news, Director David B. Ramaker purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.33 per share, with a total value of $49,995.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,442.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Mercantile Bank by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after purchasing an additional 16,465 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Mercantile Bank by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Mercantile Bank by 57.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 3,985 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,153,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,873,000 after buying an additional 5,838 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.50% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Mercantile Bank Corp. operates as a bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan. It offers checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, mobile and Internet banking, business loans, mobile wallet, health savings account, and treasury management services. The company was founded on July 15, 1997 and is headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI.