First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Separately, Hovde Group cut their price objective on 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $31.00.

First Bancshares Trading Up 0.4 %

First Bancshares stock opened at $29.19 on Friday. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $32.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.31. The firm has a market cap of $911.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $104.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.30 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 20.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that First Bancshares will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 39.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBMS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,530,263 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,271,000 after buying an additional 12,212 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in First Bancshares by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,102 shares of the bank’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 30,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 97,450 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,858,000 after purchasing an additional 5,444 shares in the last quarter. 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.