Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Stock

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 18.77% from the stock’s previous close.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ MBWM opened at $47.99 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.40. 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 company has a market capitalization of $774.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.01. Mercantile Bank has a one year low of $33.46 and a one year high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total transaction of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,025,167.50. This trade represents a 22.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 287,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,790,000 after purchasing an additional 40,055 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $3,646,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 35.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after acquiring an additional 21,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 3.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.63% 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.