Midland States Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSBI) and First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH) Financial Contrast

First Mid Bancshares (NASDAQ:FMBH) and Midland States Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

First Mid Bancshares has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Midland States Bancorp has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares First Mid Bancshares and Midland States Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Mid Bancshares	19.95%	10.44%	1.23%
Midland States Bancorp	7.53%	11.55%	0.78%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for First Mid Bancshares and Midland States Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Mid Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50
Midland States Bancorp	0	5	0	1	2.33

First Mid Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $49.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.28%. Midland States Bancorp has a consensus target price of $24.70, indicating a potential downside of 19.10%. Given First Mid Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Mid Bancshares is more favorable than Midland States Bancorp.

Dividends

First Mid Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Midland States Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. First Mid Bancshares pays out 25.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Midland States Bancorp pays out 108.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Mid Bancshares has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Midland States Bancorp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Mid Bancshares and Midland States Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Mid Bancshares	$466.04 million	2.74	$91.75 million	$3.97	12.07
Midland States Bancorp	$476.05 million	1.33	-$124.28 million	$1.18	25.87

First Mid Bancshares has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Midland States Bancorp. First Mid Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Midland States Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.6% of First Mid Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.9% of Midland States Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.0% of First Mid Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Midland States Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Mid Bancshares beats Midland States Bancorp on 11 of the 18 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 Midland States Bancorp

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for Midland States Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, municipalities, and other entities. It operates through Banking, Wealth Management, and Other segments. The company provides a range of financial products and services to consumers and businesses, including commercial loans to finance agricultural equipment and production; and commercial real estate loans for owner occupied offices, warehouses and production facilities, office buildings, hotels, mixed-use residential and commercial facilities, retail centers, multifamily properties, and assisted living facilities. In addition, it offers construction and land development loans, such as real estate investment properties and residential developments, and lesser extent loans; and residential real estate loans, which includes first and second mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit consisting of loans secured by first or second mortgages on primarily owner occupied primary residences. The company also provides consumer installment loans for the purchase of cars, boats and other recreational vehicles, as well as for the purchase of major appliances and other home improvement projects; and commercial equipment leasing programs for manufacturing, construction, transportation, and healthcare industries. Further, it offers merchant services; deposit products, including checking, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, as well as sweep accounts; letters of credit; and trust and wealth management services, such as financial and estate planning, trustee and custodial, investment management, tax, insurance, and business planning, corporate retirement plan consulting and administration, and retail brokerage services. The company was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Effingham, Illinois.