Farmers National Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:FMNB) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Farmers National Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:FMNB) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 278,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the October 15th total of 294,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 82,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy F. Shaffer sold 1,799 shares of Farmers National Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $26,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $529,230. The trade was a 4.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Farmers National Banc

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Farmers National Banc by 74.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,139 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 7,761 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Farmers National Banc in the first quarter worth $73,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Farmers National Banc in the first quarter worth $248,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new position in Farmers National Banc in the first quarter worth $140,000. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Farmers National Banc by 12.4% in the second quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,269 shares of the bank’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 5,987 shares in the last quarter. 38.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Farmers National Banc Price Performance

Shares of FMNB opened at $15.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $570.24 million, a P/E ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.83. Farmers National Banc has a 12-month low of $11.55 and a 12-month high of $16.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Farmers National Banc (NASDAQ:FMNB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $70.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.90 million. Farmers National Banc had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 17.26%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Farmers National Banc will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Farmers National Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Farmers National Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FMNB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Farmers National Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $15.00 target price (up previously from $14.00) on shares of Farmers National Banc in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Farmers National Banc from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.67.

Farmers National Banc Company Profile

Farmers National Banc Corp. operates as a bank holding company for The Farmers National Bank of Canfield engages in the banking, trust, retirement consulting, insurance, and financial management businesses. It offers commercial and retail banking services, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage and installment, and home equity loans; home equity lines of credit, night depository, safe deposit box, money order, bank check, automated teller machine, Internet banking, travel card, E bond transaction, brokerage, and other services.