Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Short Interest Down 7.8% in September

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) saw a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 222,200 shares, a decrease of 7.8% from the August 31st total of 241,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 37,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ FMAO traded down $1.49 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.16. 25,994 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,352. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.49. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $16.90 and a fifty-two week high of $28.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.92 million, a P/E ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.05. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 12.59%. The business had revenue of $44.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.39 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.221 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. This is an increase from Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mendel Money Management increased its position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 239.4% in the first quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 144,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 248,586 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 118,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,744,000 after buying an additional 12,223 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 583,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,010,000 after buying an additional 12,195 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH acquired a new position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,525,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 54,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 23.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

About Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

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.