Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Position in Mercantile Bank Corporation $MBWM

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank Corporation by 24.9% in Q1, now holding approximately 0.35% of the company valued at $2.49 million.
• Mercantile Bank announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.38 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 29.37%.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Mercantile Bank, with ratings going to "outperform" from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Raymond James Financial, predicting continued positive performance.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM - Free Report) by 24.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,294 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,425 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.35% of Mercantile Bank worth $2,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,447 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,543,000 after acquiring an additional 16,600 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,133 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 44,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 5,045 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MBWM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Mercantile Bank from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded Mercantile Bank from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Mercantile Bank from $47.50 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mercantile Bank presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.25.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

MBWM stock traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $46.81. The company had a trading volume of 7,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 69,389. Mercantile Bank Corporation has a 1 year low of $37.76 and a 1 year high of $52.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company's fifty day moving average is $46.59 and its 200 day moving average is $45.24. The company has a market cap of $760.66 million, a P/E ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 0.92.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 22.11%.The business had revenue of $60.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.02 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Corporation will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Mercantile Bank's payout ratio is 29.37%.

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.