Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 297 Shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Mercantile Bank were worth $104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 30,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after buying an additional 4,577 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Mercantile Bank in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 45,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,041,000 after purchasing an additional 14,568 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 12,712.5% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 8,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $253,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of MBWM opened at $43.44 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.09 and a 200-day moving average of $46.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $705.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 0.98. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 1 year low of $33.46 and a 1 year high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $692,709.60. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock worth $371,910. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MBWM shares. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Mercantile Bank 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.