Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $47.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on MBWM. Hovde Group lowered Mercantile Bank from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Mercantile Bank from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MBWM opened at $36.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.60. The company has a market cap of $581.45 million, a P/E ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.97. Mercantile Bank has a 12 month low of $23.89 and a 12 month high of $42.82.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $56.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.00 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 25.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Mercantile Bank will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is presently 27.13%.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MBWM. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 427,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,135,000 after buying an additional 108,389 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the 1st quarter valued at $2,649,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,443,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,860,000 after buying an additional 59,394 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 107.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 113,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,785,000 after buying an additional 58,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 161,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,935,000 after buying an additional 50,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

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.