Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Short Interest Update

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 daily trading volume, of 24,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

FMAO stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.14. 11,623 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,236. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a twelve month low of $18.99 and a twelve month high of $34.15. The company has a market capitalization of $358.12 million, a P/E ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.13. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 13.16%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.2213 per share. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMAO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 134.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $585,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $4,806,000 after purchasing an additional 17,339 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $415,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 292.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 12,375 shares during the last quarter. 23.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

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.