First Bancshares (FBMS) Competitors

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) and Nicolet Bankshares (NASDAQ:NCBS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk, profitability, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Which has better earnings and valuation, FBMS or NCBS?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Bancshares	$267.28M	4.25	$75.46M	$2.21	16.46
Nicolet Bankshares	$238.92M	4.37	$60.65M	$5.45	14.31

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FBMS or NCBS?

First Bancshares received 7 more outperform votes than Nicolet Bankshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.33% of users gave First Bancshares an outperform vote while only 48.49% of users gave Nicolet Bankshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Bancshares	Outperform Votes 232 54.33%	Underperform Votes 195 45.67%
Nicolet Bankshares	Outperform Votes 225 48.49%	Underperform Votes 239 51.51%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FBMS or NCBS?

69.9% of First Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.6% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of First Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.4% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, FBMS or NCBS?

First Bancshares has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FBMS or NCBS more profitable?

Nicolet Bankshares has a net margin of 25.73% compared to First Bancshares' net margin of 17.25%. Nicolet Bankshares' return on equity of 10.09% beat First Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancshares	17.25%	8.19%	1.00%
Nicolet Bankshares	25.73%	10.09%	1.17%

Do analysts rate FBMS or NCBS?

First Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $35.50, suggesting a potential downside of 2.39%. Given First Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Bancshares is more favorable than Nicolet Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Nicolet Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Does the media prefer FBMS or NCBS?

In the previous week, First Bancshares had 5 more articles in the media than Nicolet Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for First Bancshares and 0 mentions for Nicolet Bankshares. First Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 0.88 beat Nicolet Bankshares' score of -0.09 indicating that First Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
First Bancshares	Positive
Nicolet Bankshares	Neutral

Summary

First Bancshares beats Nicolet Bankshares on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.