Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) to Issue Special Dividend of $0.01

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) announced a special dividend on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.01 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, October 20th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year 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 40.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Farmers & Merchants Bancorp to earn $3.18 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.9%.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp stock opened at $34.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.05. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.77 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $478.06 million, a P/E ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.80.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.19. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $34.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up from $32.00) on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, September 14th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.25.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Company Profile

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Archbold, Ohio. Its principal subsidiary, Farmers & Merchants Bank, is a community bank that provides financial services to individuals, families, farmers, and businesses.

The bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, agricultural financing, commercial loans, and other credit products. It also provides online and mobile banking, treasury management, trust and investment services, and other financial solutions designed to support personal and business banking needs.

Farmers & Merchants Bank traces its history to 1897 and serves communities primarily in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan through its branch network and digital banking channels.