Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Short Interest Down 6.9% in January

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 96,500 shares, a drop of 6.9% from the January 15th total of 103,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 24,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FMAO traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $26.23. The company had a trading volume of 10,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,184. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a twelve month low of $18.99 and a twelve month high of $34.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $359.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.13.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.13. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 13.16%. On average, research analysts predict that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.2213 dividend. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FMAO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 44,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 25,736 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $585,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 163,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,806,000 after acquiring an additional 17,339 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $415,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 292.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 12,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.96% of the company’s stock.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial banking, retail banking, and financial services. It includes commercial, agricultural, and residential mortgages as well as consumer and credit card lending activities. The firm also offers checking account services, and savings and time deposit services.