Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 75,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mercantile Bank were worth $3,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Mercantile Bank in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Mercantile Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in Mercantile Bank by 242.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 626 Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Institutional investors own 58.63% of the company’s stock.

Mercantile Bank Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MBWM opened at $50.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $815.23 million, a P/E ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Mercantile Bank Co. has a 1 year low of $33.46 and a 1 year high of $52.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.31 and a 200 day moving average of $43.58.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $93.08 million for 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 paid a $0.36 dividend. 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 2.85%. Mercantile Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Mercantile Bank from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 13.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 10,550 shares of company stock worth $531,660 over the last three months. 3.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.