Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Short Interest Down 5.7% in March

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 174,100 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 184,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 19,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 5th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jo Ellen Hornish purchased 3,594 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.56 per share, with a total value of $73,892.64. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $822,400. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FMAO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 225.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 7,698 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 80.1% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 19.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 81,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,960,000 after purchasing an additional 13,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. 23.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ FMAO traded up $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.37. The company had a trading volume of 2,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,108. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a one year low of $16.90 and a one year high of $27.78. The company has a market cap of $278.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.89 and its 200-day moving average is $20.80.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.09. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The business had revenue of $23.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is 52.69%.

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.