Zacks Research Upgrades Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) to “Strong-Buy”

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on FMAO. Weiss Ratings upgraded Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from $30.00 to $28.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 target price (up from $32.00) on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Farmers & Merchants Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.25.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

FMAO stock opened at $33.34 on Wednesday. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $35.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.62. The firm has a market cap of $459.09 million, a P/E ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 0.81.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $34.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 million. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.83% and a net margin of 20.27%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Farmers & Merchants Bancorp news, Director Andrew J. Briggs sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.59, for a total value of $94,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 93,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,244.50. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 72,825 shares of company stock valued at $2,091,612. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FMAO. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 72.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $1,319,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 15.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $1,765,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 37.0% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 38,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $977,000 after buying an additional 10,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 23.96% of the company’s stock.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

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.