Raymond James Financial Upgrades Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) to Moderate Buy

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) was upgraded by research analysts at Raymond James Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

MBWM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mercantile Bank in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Mercantile Bank from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Hovde Group cut Mercantile Bank from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $65.00 price target on Mercantile Bank in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Mercantile Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ MBWM opened at $61.00 on Tuesday. Mercantile Bank has a one year low of $42.75 and a one year high of $62.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.20 and a 200 day moving average of $54.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mercantile Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mercantile Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at about $88,105,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 6,994.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,091,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,998 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 27,403 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mercantile Bank by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 496,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,868,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mercantile Bank during the second quarter worth approximately $21,672,000. 58.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mercantile Bank Company 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.