First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FBMS opened at $34.33 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $39.21.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.98%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 864.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 974 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 50.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,102 shares of the bank’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. 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.