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 published on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on FBMS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their target price 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 company a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Bancshares has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBMS opened at $32.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $22.96 and a 12 month high of $34.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.15 and a 200-day moving average of $27.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.92.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Bancshares will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.68%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,197,000 after acquiring an additional 59,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,404,491 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,487,000 after acquiring an additional 91,314 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 65.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 231,635 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after acquiring an additional 91,269 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 190,928 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,960,000 after acquiring an additional 16,777 shares during the period. Finally, Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,548,000. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.