The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on FBMS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Hovde Group cut their price target 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.

First Bancshares Stock Up 4.8 %

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $25.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.56. First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $22.96 and a 12 month high of $32.06. The company has a market capitalization of $811.07 million, a P/E ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.92.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. First Bancshares had a net margin of 20.00% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $104.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 39.68%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FBMS. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 61,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,657,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 224,195 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,047,000 after buying an additional 8,642 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,446 shares of the bank’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 2,357 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $327,000. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $201,000. 69.95% of the stock is 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.