Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mercantile Bank were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Mercantile Bank by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 530,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,539,000 after acquiring an additional 8,100 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 376,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,484,000 after purchasing an additional 14,202 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 18.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 308,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,530,000 after purchasing an additional 47,528 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Mercantile Bank by 15.4% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 260,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,553,000 after purchasing an additional 34,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 4.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,583,000 after purchasing an additional 8,413 shares during the period. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ:MBWM opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.00. The firm has a market cap of $703.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.01. 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 one year low of $33.46 and a one year high of $52.98.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $93.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.83 million. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.59% and a net margin of 22.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Mercantile Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of Mercantile Bank stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total value of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,810 shares in the company, valued at $1,025,167.50. The trade was a 22.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 10,300 shares of company stock valued at $521,218 in the last three months. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Mercantile Bank from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.