Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 304 Shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Mercantile Bank worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 120,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,324 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 25,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 15.4% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 260,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,553,000 after acquiring an additional 34,725 shares during the period. ClariVest Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 24,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of Mercantile Bank stock opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 12 month low of $33.46 and a 12 month high of $52.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.61 and a 200 day moving average of $45.00. The firm has a market cap of $703.63 million, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Mercantile Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 25,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,267,951.10. The trade was a 13.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

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.