We recently published a list of Why These 15 Bank Stocks Are Plunging In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) stands against other bank stocks that have been plunging in 2025.
Bank stocks are at a crossroads this year as we may finally see the Federal Reserve lower interest rates more. The Trump administration’s pressures will compound with the recent lower inflation report and the negative stock market performance, and this could impact banking companies significantly.
Despite the Fed’s “higher for longer” rate posture, inverted yield curves have compressed net interest margins while geopolitical tensions freeze cross-border capital flows. The result has been a bifurcated landscape where universal banks like JPMorgan have thrived on diversification, whereas mono-line lenders have buckled under stress.
The yield curve is no longer inverted, but recent tariff-related shocks and general uncertainty in the economy have brought on even more pain. It’s worth looking into the banks that are the worst caught in these crosscurrents if you’re looking to scoop up some value stocks.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the worst-performing bank stocks year-to-date.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
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Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024:
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) is a bank holding company that provides commercial banking services in Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana.
The stock is down significantly so far in 2025 due to the company’s interest rate sensitivity and fears about margin pressures.
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) reported its 2024 fourth-quarter results on February 12, 2025. While net income increased significantly year-over-year (up 51.2%), management has noted competition.
The net interest margin improved slightly to 2.84%, but higher funding costs due to elevated interest rates have pressured margins.
There has also been a lack of growth catalysts.
The consensus price target of $24 implies 2.78% upside.
FMAO stock is down 20.54% year-to-date.
Overall, FMAO ranks 11th on our list of bank stocks that have been plunging in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of FMAO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FMAO but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
