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

Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $57.50 and last traded at $56.89, with a volume of 7478 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $57.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MBWM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mercantile Bank to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Mercantile Bank from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens initiated coverage on Mercantile Bank in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercantile Bank in a report on Friday, June 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mercantile Bank has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.80.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $984.22 million, a P/E ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.67.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.13. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 24.19%.The business had revenue of $67.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.41 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank Corporation will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mercantile Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MBWM. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $589,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 37.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,659,000 after buying an additional 58,743 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 9.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,247,000 after buying an additional 41,540 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 374,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,016,000 after acquiring an additional 19,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the first quarter worth $1,001,000. 58.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mercantile Bank

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.