Tthe following are today’s updates for Validea Low PE investor model based on the published strategy of John neff. This strategy looks for companies with persistent earnings growth that trade at a discount to their earnings growth and dividend yield.

FIRST BANCSHARES INC (MISSISSIPPI) (FBMS) is a small cap value stock in the regional banking sector. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff fell from 62% to 81% depending on the underlying fundamentals of the company and the valuation of the stock. A score of 80% or more usually indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% generally indicates a strong interest.

Business Description: First Bancshares, Inc. is a banking holding company for The First, A National Banking Association (the Bank). The Company and the Bank carry out general commercial and retail banking activities for small and medium-sized enterprises, professional enterprises and individuals. The Bank offers a range of banking services throughout Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The Bank offers a range of business and personal loans. Commercial loans include secured and unsecured loans for working capital (including loans guaranteed by inventory and accounts receivable), business expansion (including real estate acquisition and improvements) and l purchase of equipment and machinery. The Bank offers a range of deposit services, including interest-free accounts, accounts with negotiable withdrawal orders (NOW), money market accounts, savings accounts and term deposits.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of the tests for this strategy. Not all of the criteria in the table below are given the same weight or are independent, but the table gives a brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the title in the context of the strategy criteria.

Detailed analysis of FIRST BANCSHARES INC (MISSISSIPPI)

Full Guru Analysis for FBMS

Full factor ratio for FBMS

SELECT MEDICAL HOLDINGS CORPORATION (SEM) is a mid-cap growth stock in the healthcare facility sector. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff fell from 62% to 81% based on the underlying fundamentals of the company and the valuation of the stock. A score of 80% or more usually indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% generally indicates a strong interest.

Company Description: Select Medical Holdings Corporation is an operator of specialty hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics and occupational medicine centers in the United States. The segments of the company include Specialty Hospitals, Outpatient Rehabilitation, Concentra and others. The Specialty Hospitals segment includes hospitals designed to meet the needs of long-term acute patients and hospitals designed to serve patients requiring intensive medical rehabilitation care. The outpatient rehabilitation segment includes clinics that provide physical, vocational and speech rehabilitation services. The Concentra segment consists of medical centers and contract services provided at employer workplaces and Department of Veterans Affairs (CBOC) community outpatient clinics that provide occupational medicine, physiotherapy, veteran care and general public health. As of December 31, 2016, the company had operations in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of the tests for this strategy. Not all of the criteria in the table below are given the same weight or are independent, but the table gives a brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the title in the context of the strategy criteria.

Detailed analysis of SELECT MEDICAL HOLDINGS CORPORATION

Full Guru Analysis for SEM

Full factor ratio for SEM

MERIDIAN BANCORP INC (MARYLAND) (EBSB) is a small cap value stock in the regional banking industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff fell from 62% to 81% based on the underlying fundamentals of the company and the valuation of the stock. A score of 80% or more usually indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% generally indicates a strong interest.

Company Description: Meridian Bancorp, Inc. is a banking holding company for East Boston Savings Bank (the Bank). The Bank is an equity savings bank. The Bank operated from 31 locations, one mobile branch and three credit centers in the greater Boston area as of December 31, 2016. The Bank offers a range of deposit and loan products to individuals and companies located in its market, which consists of the counties of Suffolk, Middlesex and Essex, Massachusetts. The Bank attracts deposits from the public and uses these funds to grant loans that it holds for investment purposes. The Bank’s lending activity also includes the buying and selling of loan participations. The Bank also offers deposit-free financial products via a third-party network. It offers its clients a range of no-deposit financial products, including mutual funds, annuities, stocks and bonds, which are offered and cleared by a third-party broker. It also offers its clients long-term care insurance.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of the tests for this strategy. Not all of the criteria in the table below are given the same weight or are independent, but the table gives a brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the title in the context of the strategy criteria.

Detailed analysis of MERIDIAN BANCORP INC (MARYLAND)

Full Guru Analysis for EBSB

Full factor ratio for EBSB

More details on Validea’s John Neff strategy

About John Neff: Despite being known as the manager many top executives trusted with their own money, Neff was far from the high profile Wall Streeter one would expect. He was gentle and low-key, and the same could be said of the Windsor Fund which he managed for over three decades. In fact, Neff himself described the fund as “relatively prosaic, drab, [and] There was nothing dull in his results, however. From 1964 to 1995, Neff guided Windsor to an average annual return of 13.7%, easily surpassing the 10.6% return of the S&P 500 during that time. This 3.1 percentage point difference is huge over time – an investment of $ 10,000 in Windsor (with dividends reinvested) at the start of Neff’s tenure would have ended up as over $ 564,000 by the time of his retirement, which is more than the double what the same S&P investment would have made (around $ 233,000). Considering the length of his tenure, this record is perhaps the best ever for a manager of such a large fund.

About Validea: Validea is an investment research service that tracks published strategies from investment legends. Validea offers both stock market analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information on Validea, Click here

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.