Hovde Group Lowers Price Target for First Mid Bancshares to $43.00

Hovde Group has revised its price target for First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH) from $48.00 to $43.00, as revealed in a research note distributed to investors on Friday. In addition, the firm maintains an outperform rating on the bank's stock.

Other analysts have also recently provided updates on First Mid Bancshares. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a price target of $43.00 in a research report dated January 24. Similarly, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target for the bank's stock from $42.00 to $45.00, marking it with a "market perform" rating in their report on December 4. Currently, the stock has received three hold ratings and two buy ratings. MarketBeat data indicates that the average rating for First Mid Bancshares is "Hold" with an average price target of $45.00.

Current Stock Performance of First Mid Bancshares

The stock opened at $35.45 on Friday and boasts a market capitalization of $850.16 million. It has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.88. Over the past year, the stock has fluctuated between a low of $28.86 and a high of $43.86. The 50-day simple moving average stands at $37.25, while the 200-day moving average is at $38.72. The company reports a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.91, and a current ratio of 0.91.

On January 23, First Mid Bancshares announced its quarterly earnings, revealing earnings per share (EPS) of $0.87, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.05. The bank recorded a return on equity of 10.10% along with a net margin of 17.39%. Analysts predict that First Mid Bancshares will achieve an EPS of 3.61 for the current year.

Dividend Announcements

Recently, the firm declared a quarterly dividend, which was distributed on February 28. Shareholders recorded as of February 13 received a dividend payout of $0.24 per share. This equates to an annualized dividend of $0.96, resulting in a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was set for February 13, and the firm's payout ratio is 29.18%.

Insider Trading Activity

In other developments, Director James Edwin Zimmer purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock on December 19 at an average price of $39.87 per share, totaling $39,870. Following this acquisition, the director's ownership increased by 32.79%, bringing his total holdings to 4,050 shares valued at $161,473.50. Insider ownership currently stands at 7.70%.

Institutional Investors and Their Holdings

Institutional investors have also made recent adjustments to their stakes in First Mid Bancshares. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position by 804.9% during the 4th quarter, now holding 733 shares valued at approximately $27,000. Similarly, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings by 1,226.4%, now owning 955 shares worth about $35,000. Other investors, such as Aquatic Capital Management LLC and Tower Research Capital LLC, have also made significant stakes in the company. In total, institutional investors control 47.57% of First Mid Bancshares’ stock.

About First Mid Bancshares

First Mid Bancshares, Inc. is a financial holding company providing a variety of community banking services to commercial, retail, and agricultural clients across the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including demand deposits, savings accounts, money market deposits, and time deposits. Its loan offerings consist of commercial real estate, industrial loans, agricultural loans, residential real estate loans, and consumer loans as well as loans for construction and land development.

Finance, Stocks, Investment