First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

First Mid Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBH)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $42.87 and last traded at $42.8340, with a volume of 57888 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FMBH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of First Mid Bancshares from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Mid Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of First Mid Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Mid Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.80.

First Mid Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.69.

First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The bank reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $89.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.60 million. First Mid Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 18.77%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Mid Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Mid Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. First Mid Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Mid Bancshares

In other news, CEO Clay M. Dean sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.69, for a total transaction of $46,916.31. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $410,848.56. This trade represents a 10.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMBH. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in First Mid Bancshares in the third quarter worth $36,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of First Mid Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Mid Bancshares by 272.5% in the third quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in First Mid Bancshares by 32.0% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in First Mid Bancshares by 176.3% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the period. 47.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Mid Bancshares Company Profile

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.