Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 823 Shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Mercantile Bank were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the 1st quarter worth $72,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Mercantile Bank by 242.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 1,982 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Mercantile Bank by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mercantile Bank

In related news, Director Michael H. Price sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $227,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $982,306.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Michael H. Price sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $227,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $982,306.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 2,000 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.01, for a total value of $96,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,576.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $490,933 over the last ninety days. 3.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MBWM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Mercantile Bank from $42.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Mercantile Bank Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MBWM opened at $43.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.97 and its 200 day moving average is $40.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $694.98 million, a P/E ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 52 week low of $30.12 and a 52 week high of $51.21.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The business had revenue of $88.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.23 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 23.99%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.91%.

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.