Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Raises Dividend to $0.37 Per Share

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

Mercantile Bank has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Mercantile Bank has a dividend payout ratio of 31.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Mercantile Bank to earn $4.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.9%.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBWM opened at $48.52 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $783.11 million, a PE ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 1.01. Mercantile Bank has a 1-year low of $33.46 and a 1-year high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mercantile Bank will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MBWM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Hovde Group raised 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total value of $300,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,025,167.50. This trade represents a 22.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

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.