Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Rating Increased to Moderate Buy at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) from an outperform rating to a moderate buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler set a $65.00 target price on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercantile Bank in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Hovde Group downgraded Mercantile Bank from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $62.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of MBWM opened at $61.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.20 and a 200-day moving average of $54.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 0.80. Mercantile Bank has a 1 year low of $42.75 and a 1 year high of $62.39.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $68.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.81 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 13.66% and a net margin of 24.75%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.46%.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Mercantile Bank by 6,994.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,091,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,667,000 after buying an additional 1,075,998 shares during the period. Old Mission Investment Co LLC acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the second quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the second quarter valued at approximately $580,000. North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,672,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the second quarter worth approximately $1,778,000. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mercantile Bank

Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: MBWM) is the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through its state-chartered subsidiary, the company provides a broad range of financial products and services to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and consumers across West and Central Michigan.

The bank’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside commercial and consumer loan portfolios.