Insider Selling: Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Director Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Director Michael H. Price sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $227,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $982,306.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MBWM traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.39. The stock had a trading volume of 44,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 71,177. The company has a market capitalization of $731.73 million, a PE ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.30. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 1 year low of $30.12 and a 1 year high of $51.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.17. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 23.99%. The business had revenue of $88.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank during the first quarter worth $452,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 8.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,791,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.7% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 1,523 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 9.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MBWM shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Mercantile Bank from $42.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Mercantile Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.00.

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.