Short Interest in First Mid Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBH) Expands By 19.8%

First Mid Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBH) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 141,900 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the March 15th total of 118,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 63,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Mid Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of First Mid Bancshares by 327.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 34,347 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 26,315 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Mid Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $566,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of First Mid Bancshares by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,132 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,180,000 after acquiring an additional 25,855 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of First Mid Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in First Mid Bancshares by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 120,471 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,436,000 after purchasing an additional 20,266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.57% of the company’s stock.

First Mid Bancshares Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:FMBH traded down $0.51 on Monday, hitting $31.81. 13,472 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,421. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $762.87 million, a PE ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 0.85. First Mid Bancshares has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $43.86.

First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.05. First Mid Bancshares had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 10.10%. Equities analysts anticipate that First Mid Bancshares will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Mid Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. First Mid Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 29.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of First Mid Bancshares from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of First Mid Bancshares in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

About First Mid Bancshares

First Mid Bancshares, Inc, a financial holding company, provides community banking products and services to commercial, retail, and agricultural customers in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, such as demand deposits, savings accounts, money market deposits, and time deposits. The company’s loan products include commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, agricultural and agricultural real estate, residential real estate, and consumer loans, as well as construction and land development, 1-4 family residential properties, and multifamily residential properties loans; and other loans comprising loans to municipalities to support community projects, such as infrastructure improvements or equipment purchases.