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

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

Insider Transactions at Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

In other Farmers & Merchants Bancorp news, Director Jo Ellen Hornish bought 3,594 shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.56 per share, for a total transaction of $73,892.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $822,400. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FMAO. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 88.1% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $129,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group started 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 target price for the company.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ FMAO traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,763. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.61. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $16.90 and a fifty-two week high of $27.78.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $23.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.90 million. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 7.46%. Equities research analysts predict that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is 52.69%.

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.