Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Stock Position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM - Free Report) by 95.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,793 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 34,567 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.44% of Mercantile Bank worth $2,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MBWM. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mercantile Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the 3rd quarter worth $78,000. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MBWM shares. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Mercantile Bank from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Hovde Group lowered shares of Mercantile Bank from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MBWM traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 64,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 79,449. The stock has a market capitalization of $593.70 million, a PE ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 0.97. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 12 month low of $23.89 and a 12 month high of $42.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $37.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.26.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $56.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.00 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 27.09%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Mercantile Bank's payout ratio is presently 27.29%.

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.