Farmers National Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:FMNB) Short Interest Update

Farmers National Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:FMNB) was the target of a large drop in short interest in 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 volume of 82,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Farmers National Banc Price Performance

FMNB opened at $15.31 on Monday. Farmers National Banc has a 1 year low of $11.55 and a 1 year high of $16.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $575.47 million, a PE ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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

Farmers National Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. Farmers National Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.28%.

Insider Transactions at Farmers National Banc

In other news, EVP Timothy F. Shaffer sold 1,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $26,985.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,282 shares in the company, valued at $529,230. This represents a 4.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Farmers National Banc

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Farmers National Banc by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 846,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,802,000 after purchasing an additional 44,349 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Farmers National Banc by 330.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,930 shares of the bank’s stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 42,951 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Farmers National Banc in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $148,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Farmers National Banc by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 849,499 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,844,000 after acquiring an additional 28,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Farmers National Banc during the third quarter valued at approximately $157,000. 38.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Farmers National Banc

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.