Orange County Bancorp (OBT) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FBMS or OBT?

First Bancshares received 225 more outperform votes than Orange County Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 53.94% of users gave First Bancshares an outperform vote while only 50.00% of users gave Orange County Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Bancshares	Outperform Votes 233 53.94%	Underperform Votes 199 46.06%
Orange County Bancorp	Outperform Votes 8 50.00%	Underperform Votes 8 50.00%

Do analysts recommend FBMS or OBT?

First Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $37.17, suggesting a potential upside of 7.60%. Orange County Bancorp has a consensus target price of $71.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.33%. Given Orange County Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Orange County Bancorp is more favorable than First Bancshares.

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
Orange County Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk & volatility, FBMS or OBT?

First Bancshares has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orange County Bancorp has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer FBMS or OBT?

In the previous week, First Bancshares had 4 more articles in the media than Orange County Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for First Bancshares and 1 mentions for Orange County Bancorp. First Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 0.87 beat Orange County Bancorp's score of -0.27 indicating that First Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Bancshares	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Orange County Bancorp	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is FBMS or OBT a better dividend stock?

First Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Orange County Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. First Bancshares pays out 45.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Orange County Bancorp pays out 19.5% 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.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FBMS or OBT?

69.9% of First Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.5% of Orange County Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of First Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.5% of Orange County Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is FBMS or OBT more profitable?

Orange County Bancorp has a net margin of 20.31% compared to First Bancshares' net margin of 17.25%. Orange County Bancorp's return on equity of 16.37% beat First Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancshares	17.25%	8.19%	1.00%
Orange County Bancorp	20.31%	16.37%	1.16%

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, FBMS or OBT?

First Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Orange County Bancorp. Orange County Bancorp 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	4.03	$75.46M	$2.21	15.63
Orange County Bancorp	$106.12M	3.03	$29.48M	$5.12	11.06

Summary

First Bancshares beats Orange County Bancorp on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.