Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from $30.00 to $28.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up from $32.00) on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.25.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ FMAO opened at $33.59 on Friday. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $35.94. The stock has a market cap of $462.53 million, a PE ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $34.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 million. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 20.27%. On average, research analysts forecast that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.62%.

Insider Activity at Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

In other news, Director Andrew J. Briggs sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.72, for a total value of $172,320.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 168,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,756. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,825 shares of company stock valued at $2,196,192. 7.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $380,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $210,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 2.1% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 19,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 36.0% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 948.7% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 4,013 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 23.96% of the company’s stock.

About Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) is the bank holding company for Farmers & Merchants Bank of Central California, a community-focused institution headquartered in Los Banos, California. The bank traces its roots to 1916 and has grown to serve individuals, businesses and agricultural enterprises throughout the western San Joaquin Valley. Operating with a commitment to local decision-making, the company emphasizes personalized service and close ties to the communities in which it operates.

Through its banking subsidiary, Farmers & Merchants offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, online and mobile banking platforms, and merchant services.