Inspire Investing LLC Sells 390 Shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Inspire Investing LLC decreased its position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 390 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Mercantile Bank worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 16.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank in the third quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, 626 Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mercantile Bank

In other Mercantile Bank news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total value of $300,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,810 shares in the company, valued at $1,025,167.50. The trade was a 22.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,300 shares of company stock valued at $521,218. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MBWM. Hovde Group raised Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Mercantile Bank stock opened at $49.20 on Monday. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 12 month low of $33.46 and a 12 month high of $52.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.56. The firm has a market cap of $794.58 million, a P/E ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.09%.

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.