Empowered Funds LLC Takes $1.78 Million Position in Mercantile Bank Corporation $MBWM

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 30,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,778,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new position in Mercantile Bank in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,346,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,305,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,105,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,779,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,030,000. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Piper Sandler set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Mercantile Bank in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Hovde Group cut shares of Mercantile Bank from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Mercantile Bank from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of MBWM stock opened at $61.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.63. Mercantile Bank Corporation has a 1-year low of $42.75 and a 1-year high of $62.39.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.21. Mercantile Bank had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 13.66%. The firm had revenue of $68.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.81 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mercantile Bank Corporation will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This is a positive change from Mercantile Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is 27.46%.

Mercantile Bank Profile

Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: MBWM) is the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through its state-chartered subsidiary, the company provides a broad range of financial products and services to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and consumers across West and Central Michigan.

The bank’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside commercial and consumer loan portfolios.