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

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying 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 institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Mercantile Bank by 4.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,583,000 after acquiring an additional 8,413 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Mercantile Bank by 132.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 12,239 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 95.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 6,531 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 77.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 3,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 75,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,043.40. This represents a 15.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910 in the last ninety days. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MBWM stock opened at $43.44 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.09 and a 200-day moving average of $46.20. Mercantile Bank Co. has a one year low of $33.46 and a one year high of $52.98. The company has a market cap of $705.07 million, a P/E ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS 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 research analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

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

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.