First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Separately, Hovde Group decreased their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $29.50 to $28.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $31.00.

First Bancshares Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of FBMS opened at $27.63 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $22.96 and a 12 month high of $32.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $25.04 and its 200-day moving average is $25.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $862.61 million, a PE ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.93.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $104.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that First Bancshares will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 3,387.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $87,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the first quarter worth $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 652.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.