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

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

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp stock opened at $26.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.09 and a 200 day moving average of $28.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a 12 month low of $18.99 and a 12 month high of $34.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 0.68.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 7.97% and a net margin of 14.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.2213 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. 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. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 46.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $225,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,589 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 106,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.96% of the company’s stock.

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.