Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $37.71 and last traded at $37.5220, with a volume of 64,293 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FMAO shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Farmers & Merchants Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.75.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Trading Up 3.0%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $515.72 million, a P/E ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 21.30% and a return on equity of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $34.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.65 million. Research analysts forecast that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 30.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrew Briggs sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total value of $105,330.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 51,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,809,920.50. This trade represents a 5.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David R. Gerken sold 1,000 shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.72, for a total transaction of $33,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,483.48. This trade represents a 13.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,402 shares of company stock worth $640,060. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMAO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,241,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,843,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 226,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,825,000 after buying an additional 12,356 shares in the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc acquired a new position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $1,765,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,319,000. 23.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Archbold, Ohio. Founded in 1897, the company operates through its principal subsidiary, The Farmers & Merchants State Bank, a community bank serving individuals, families, farmers and businesses.

The bank offers a range of traditional financial services, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer and residential mortgage loans, commercial lending, agricultural loans and other business banking products.