The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) to Issue $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 24th, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the bank on Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th.

First Bancshares has increased its dividend payment by an average of 28.9% annually over the last three years.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $30.26. The company had a trading volume of 304,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 161,312. The stock has a market capitalization of $944.72 million, a P/E ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.93. First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $22.96 and a 52-week high of $32.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.40 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 20.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group dropped their price target on shares of First Bancshares from $29.50 to $28.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

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.