Mercantile Bank Co. (MBWM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 on March 19th

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.37 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

Mercantile Bank has raised its dividend by an average of 6.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Mercantile Bank has a payout ratio of 31.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Mercantile Bank to earn $4.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.3%.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

Shares of MBWM opened at $47.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.40. Mercantile Bank has a twelve month low of $33.46 and a twelve month high of $52.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $775.04 million, a PE ratio of 9.69 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of the business’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 value of $300,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,810 shares in the company, valued at $1,025,167.50. The trade was a 22.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MBWM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Mercantile Bank from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Hovde Group upgraded Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday.

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.