Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.23 Per Share

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.23 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, January 20th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 29th. This is a 1.1% increase from Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 19 years. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a payout ratio of 40.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Farmers & Merchants Bancorp to earn $2.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.91 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.0%.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FMAO traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.67. 3,528 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,995. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $380.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a 12 month low of $20.88 and a 12 month high of $31.92.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.35 million. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, equities analysts expect that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FMAO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

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.