First Mid Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBH) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Six brokerages give First Mid a "Moderate Buy" consensus (four buy, two hold) with an average 1‑year price target of $43.75.
• Insider and institutional activity: EVP Bradley L. Beesley sold 6,000 shares at $44 (reducing his stake by 32.65%), while institutional investors now own 47.57% and several large funds (Vanguard, Dimensional, American Century, Geode, State Street) recently increased holdings.
• Recent results, valuation and dividend: Q4 EPS matched estimates at $1.06 with revenue of $90.14M beating consensus, the stock trades at a PE of 11.15, and the company pays a $0.25 quarterly dividend ($1.00 annual, ~2.3% yield).

Shares of First Mid Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBH - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.75.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of First Mid Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of First Mid Bancshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of First Mid Bancshares from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Mid Bancshares

In other news, EVP Bradley L. Beesley sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $264,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,378 shares in the company, valued at $544,632. This represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Mid Bancshares by 3.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,366,627 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,768,000 after purchasing an additional 44,319 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in First Mid Bancshares by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,044,098 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,720,000 after purchasing an additional 23,265 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in First Mid Bancshares by 9.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 584,286 shares of the bank's stock worth $22,133,000 after purchasing an additional 52,116 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Mid Bancshares by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 546,389 shares of the bank's stock worth $21,313,000 after purchasing an additional 12,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in First Mid Bancshares by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 530,875 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,808 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.57% of the company's stock.

First Mid Bancshares Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:FMBH opened at $42.83 on Friday. First Mid Bancshares has a 52 week low of $31.32 and a 52 week high of $44.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.96.

First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. First Mid Bancshares had a net margin of 19.69% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $90.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.86 million. Analysts forecast that First Mid Bancshares will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Mid Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 12th. First Mid Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 26.04%.

About First Mid Bancshares

First Mid Bancshares, Inc NASDAQ: FMBH, headquartered in Mattoon, Illinois, is a financial services holding company that offers a comprehensive suite of banking products and services through its main subsidiary, First Mid Bank & Trust. The company's primary business activities include commercial and retail banking, mortgage origination and servicing, wealth management and trust administration, as well as treasury and cash management solutions.

Through its branch network, First Mid provides consumer deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and online banking services.

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