Strs Ohio Invests $560,000 in Mercantile Bank Corporation $MBWM

Key Points

• Strs Ohio purchased 12,900 shares of Mercantile Bank Corporation during the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $560,000, marking a 0.08% ownership in the company.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Mercantile Bank, with Piper Sandler setting a new target of $56.00, while the average target price now stands at $55.25.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38, increasing from the previous $0.37, resulting in a 3.2% dividend yield.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 12,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $560,000. Strs Ohio owned about 0.08% of Mercantile Bank as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the first quarter valued at $460,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,017,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,182,000 after purchasing an additional 147,299 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 184.5% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 13,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 9,010 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 44,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 5,045 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Mercantile Bank stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.44. The company had a trading volume of 11,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 67,306. The stock has a market cap of $754.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.24. Mercantile Bank Corporation has a 12-month low of $37.76 and a 12-month high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $60.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.02 million. As a group, analysts predict that Mercantile Bank Corporation will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Mercantile Bank's payout ratio is 30.16%.

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.