Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $415,000 Position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Mercantile Bank worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 77.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 3,235 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total value of $50,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,098.20. This represents a 7.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Mercantile Bank stock opened at $45.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 52 week low of $33.46 and a 52 week high of $52.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $735.77 million, a P/E ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.83 and a 200-day moving average of $46.16.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 21.99%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is 29.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MBWM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hovde Group upgraded Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

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.