Mercantile Bank Corporation $MBWM Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its position in Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 81.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,763 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Mercantile Bank were worth $328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MBWM. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Mercantile Bank in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. EMC Capital Management lifted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 76.3% during the second quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 18.6% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 3,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 251.9% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nelson F. Sanchez acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $43.50 per share, for a total transaction of $43,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,337. This represents a 39.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MBWM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Hovde Group raised their price objective on Mercantile Bank from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Raymond James Financial set a $57.00 target price on Mercantile Bank in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $57.00 price target on Mercantile Bank in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of MBWM opened at $51.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.98. Mercantile Bank Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $37.76 and a fifty-two week high of $54.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.12. The company has a market capitalization of $876.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.89.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 23.87%.The firm had revenue of $62.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.25 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank Corporation will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is 27.84%.

About Mercantile Bank

Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: MBWM) is the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through its state-chartered subsidiary, the company provides a broad range of financial products and services to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and consumers across West and Central Michigan.

The bank’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside commercial and consumer loan portfolios.