Analysts Set The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Target Price at $35.50

Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.50.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on First Bancshares in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

First Bancshares Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of First Bancshares stock opened at $37.65 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.18. First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $22.96 and a 12-month high of $38.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 45.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in First Bancshares by 72.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,984 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 26,514 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First Bancshares by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,197,000 after buying an additional 59,471 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at $103,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the first quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 17.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.