Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Mercantile Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MBWM) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $53.55 and traded as high as $62.35. Mercantile Bank shares last traded at $61.33, with a volume of 192,504 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MBWM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Hovde Group lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Mercantile Bank from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler set a $65.00 price target on Mercantile Bank in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.40.

Mercantile Bank Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.55.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $68.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.81 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 13.66% and a net margin of 24.75%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mercantile Bank Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.40 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Mercantile Bank’s payout ratio is presently 27.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,066,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,292,000 after buying an additional 27,403 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 496,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,868,000 after acquiring an additional 5,800 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mercantile Bank by 5.4% in the 4th 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. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Mercantile Bank in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,181,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mercantile Bank by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 201,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,077,000 after acquiring an additional 54,373 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is owned by 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.