StockNews.com Begins Coverage on First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Hovde Group boosted their price target on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $35.50.

First Bancshares Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of FBMS stock opened at $31.65 on Thursday. First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $22.96 and a 1-year high of $34.40. The company has a market cap of $988.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.52.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $104.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 3,387.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $103,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in First Bancshares by 652.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

About First Bancshares

The First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for The First Bank that provides general commercial and retail banking services. The company operates through three segments: Commercial/Retail Bank, Mortgage Banking Division, and Holding Company. It offers deposit services, including checking, NOW, and savings accounts; other time deposits, such as daily money market accounts and longer-term certificates of deposit; and individual retirement and health savings accounts.