Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,202 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.34% of Mercantile Bank worth $16,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 530,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,539,000 after acquiring an additional 8,100 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 363,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 18.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 308,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,530,000 after buying an additional 47,528 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 15.4% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 260,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,553,000 after buying an additional 34,725 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,583,000 after acquiring an additional 8,413 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Mercantile Bank from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Mercantile Bank Stock Down 1.7 %

MBWM opened at $44.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.54 and its 200 day moving average is $44.63. The stock has a market cap of $722.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.99. Mercantile Bank Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.46 and a fifty-two week high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $93.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.83 million. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 22.77% and a return on equity of 14.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.92%.

Insider Activity at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $198,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,951.10. This trade represents a 13.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,550 shares of company stock valued at $531,660. Insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

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.