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

by · The Cerbat Gem

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS – Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

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

View Our Latest Report on First Bancshares

First Bancshares Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $33.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.92. First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $22.96 and a 52-week high of $34.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.10.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $104.35 million during 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of First Bancshares by 72.7% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,984 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after buying an additional 26,514 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $463,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $895,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $42,197,000 after purchasing an additional 59,471 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 16.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 119,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

About First Bancshares

(Get Free Report)

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.

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