Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Price Target to $31.00

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) had its price objective raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on FBMS. Hovde Group lowered their target price on First Bancshares from $29.50 to $28.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded First Bancshares from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $32.88.

First Bancshares Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of FBMS opened at $30.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $32.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.39. The firm has a market cap of $956.58 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.93.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.68%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FBMS. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $36,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in First Bancshares by 3,387.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $87,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares in the first quarter worth $103,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in First Bancshares by 652.7% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 6,481 shares during the last quarter. 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.