Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Short Interest Down 8.8% in September

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 202,600 shares, a drop of 8.8% from the September 15th total of 222,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 33,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

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Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:FMAO traded down $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $28.49. 12,007 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,617. The company has a market cap of $389.80 million, a PE ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.93. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a 1 year low of $16.90 and a 1 year high of $28.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $44.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.39 million. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 12.59%. Equities analysts anticipate that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.221 dividend. This is a positive change from Farmers & Merchants Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp's payout ratio is 55.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mendel Money Management lifted its holdings in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 239.4% during the first quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 144,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,227,000 after buying an additional 248,586 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 11.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 118,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,744,000 after buying an additional 12,223 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 583,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,010,000 after buying an additional 12,195 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH acquired a new position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $41,525,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $220,000. 23.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

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Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

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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.

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