Financial Contrast: MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG) versus First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH)

First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH) and MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for First Mid Bancshares and MidWestOne Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Mid Bancshares	0	0	4	0	3.00
MidWestOne Financial Group	0	3	0	0	2.00

First Mid Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $36.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.76%. MidWestOne Financial Group has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.38%. Given First Mid Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Mid Bancshares is more favorable than MidWestOne Financial Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

47.6% of First Mid Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.4% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.7% of First Mid Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

First Mid Bancshares has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MidWestOne Financial Group has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Mid Bancshares and MidWestOne Financial Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Mid Bancshares	$386.95 million	2.00	$68.93 million	$3.17	10.21
MidWestOne Financial Group	$268.04 million	1.38	$20.86 million	$1.32	17.80

First Mid Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than MidWestOne Financial Group. First Mid Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MidWestOne Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares First Mid Bancshares and MidWestOne Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Mid Bancshares	17.82%	10.71%	1.06%
MidWestOne Financial Group	7.78%	7.12%	0.56%

Dividends

First Mid Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. MidWestOne Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Mid Bancshares pays out 29.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MidWestOne Financial Group pays out 73.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. MidWestOne Financial Group has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. MidWestOne Financial Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

First Mid Bancshares beats MidWestOne Financial Group on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It also offers wealth management services, which include estate planning, investment, and farm management and brokerage services for individuals; employee benefit services for businesses; and farm management and brokerage services. In addition, the company provides property and casualty, senior insurance products, and group medical insurance for businesses; and personal lines insurance to individuals. The company was formerly known as First Mid-Illinois Bancshares, Inc. and changed its name to First Mid Bancshares, Inc. in April 2019. First Mid Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Mattoon, Illinois.

About MidWestOne Financial Group

MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for MidWestOne Bank that provides commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals, businesses, governmental units, and institutional customers. It offers range of deposit products, including noninterest bearing and interest bearing demand deposits, savings, money market, and time deposits accounts. The company also provides commercial, real estate, agricultural, credit card, and consumer loans; and financing arrangements, such as brokered deposits, term debt, subordinated debt, and equity. In addition, it offers trust and investment services comprising administering estates, trusts, and conservatorships; property and farm management, investment advisory, retail securities brokerage, financial planning, and custodial services; and licensed brokers services. Further, the company provides online and mobile banking, debit cards, automated teller machines, and safe deposit boxes. MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa.