Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $52.05 and last traded at $52.05, with a volume of 4261 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.39.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $808.61 million, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.95.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $93.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.83 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.59% and a net margin of 22.77%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is 28.92%.

Insider Activity at Mercantile Bank

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $198,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,267,951.10. This trade represents a 13.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $219,110 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mercantile Bank

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mercantile Bank by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 5,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 25,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.