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

Key Points

• Short interest surged in Farmers National Banc, rising 85.1% in late June to 1.56 million shares, or 2.7% of the float. The short-interest ratio is 2.2 days based on recent trading volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans cautious: the stock currently has a consensus Hold rating and a $16 average price target. Recent rating changes included upgrades from Zacks and Weiss, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the shares to Hold.
• The company posted solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and it continues to pay a 4.6% dividend yield after its latest $0.17 per-share payout. The stock last traded at $14.88, near its 52-week high of $15.50.

Farmers National Banc Corp. (NASDAQ:FMNB - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,560,289 shares, an increase of 85.1% from the June 15th total of 842,863 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 719,552 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on FMNB shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Farmers National Banc from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Farmers National Banc from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Farmers National Banc from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Farmers National Banc from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Farmers National Banc currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Farmers National Banc

In other news, Director Michael C. Voinovich sold 23,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.21, for a total transaction of $331,220.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Farmers National Banc

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FMNB. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Farmers National Banc during the second quarter worth $184,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Farmers National Banc by 86.1% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Farmers National Banc by 99.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 105,394 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 52,450 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Farmers National Banc by 153.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 34,987 shares of the bank's stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 21,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi acquired a new stake in Farmers National Banc in the first quarter valued at $382,000. 38.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Farmers National Banc Price Performance

NASDAQ:FMNB opened at $14.88 on Friday. Farmers National Banc has a 52-week low of $12.12 and a 52-week high of $15.50. The company has a market cap of $881.19 million, a P/E ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $14.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.68.

Farmers National Banc (NASDAQ:FMNB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $56.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.30 million. Farmers National Banc had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 19.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Farmers National Banc will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Farmers National Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Farmers National Banc's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.90%.

About Farmers National Banc

Farmers National Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Farmers National Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Ada, Ohio. The company provides a comprehensive suite of banking services through a network of branches serving rural and small-town markets across central Ohio. Its local decision-making model emphasizes personalized customer service and close ties to the communities it serves.

The company's primary business activities include the origination of commercial loans, consumer installment loans, agricultural financing, and residential mortgages.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.