Intellus Advisors LLC Makes New $243,000 Investment in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 389,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,349,000 after buying an additional 29,604 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 30,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after buying an additional 4,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MBWM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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 shares of Mercantile Bank from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 1,000 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total transaction of $50,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,098.20. This trade represents a 7.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $371,910. Company insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

MBWM opened at $44.25 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.13. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $33.46 and a 52 week high of $52.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $718.22 million, a PE ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 0.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.07. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 14.29%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

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.