First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a research note published on Wednesday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on FBMS. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Price Performance

First Bancshares stock opened at $36.55 on Wednesday. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $38.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.56. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $36,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 3,387.8% in the second 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 period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $89,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $103,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in First Bancshares by 50.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.