Short Interest in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) Declines By 21.2%

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 64,700 shares, a decline of 21.2% from the February 13th total of 82,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 72,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

Mercantile Bank stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.48. 65,781 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 62,322. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Mercantile Bank has a fifty-two week low of $33.46 and a fifty-two week high of $52.98. The company has a market capitalization of $721.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.16.

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, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mercantile Bank will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mercantile Bank

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $692,709.60. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 3.7% during the third 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 75,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MBWM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

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.