Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 254,000 shares, an increase of 78.4% from the May 31st total of 142,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 25,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 79.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,864 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $172,000. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH purchased a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,525,000. Finally, Tufton Capital Management purchased a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $242,000. 23.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Hovde Group began coverage on Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 5th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FMAO traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.22. The stock had a trading volume of 96,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,517. The firm has a market cap of $317.65 million, a P/E ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a 52 week low of $16.90 and a 52 week high of $27.78.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $42.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.10 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for The Farmers & Merchants State Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals and small businesses in Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; certificates of deposit; and custodial services for individual retirement and health savings accounts.