Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Stock

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price indicates a potential upside of 21.90% from the stock’s previous close.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of MBWM stock opened at $46.76 on Wednesday. Mercantile Bank has a 52 week low of $33.46 and a 52 week high of $52.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.02 and its 200-day moving average is $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $754.71 million, a PE ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. Equities research analysts expect that Mercantile Bank will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $198,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,267,951.10. This represents a 13.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,300 shares of company stock valued at $521,218. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 75,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 5,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.