First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FBMS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Bancshares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $35.50.

First Bancshares Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $31.65 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $988.08 million, a P/E ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.93. First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $22.96 and a 52 week high of $34.40.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $104.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.40 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 18.71%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that First Bancshares will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 (DPR) is 39.68%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in First Bancshares by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,503 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 1.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,877,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in First Bancshares by 3,387.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

First Bancshares Company Profile

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.