American Century Companies Inc. Buys 29,604 Shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 389,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,604 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.41% of Mercantile Bank worth $17,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,484,000 after purchasing an additional 14,202 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 287,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,790,000 after buying an additional 40,055 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,583,000 after buying an additional 8,413 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Mercantile Bank by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after buying an additional 21,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,646,000. 58.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MBWM opened at $43.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $705.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.20. Mercantile Bank Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.46 and a fifty-two week high of $52.98. 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 (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 21.99%. As a group, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MBWM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Hovde Group upgraded Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total value of $150,480.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $692,709.60. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock worth $371,910 over the last three months. 3.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.