First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a report published on Friday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

FBMS opened at $37.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 0.91. First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $22.96 and a 1-year high of $39.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 45.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $846,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the first quarter valued at $895,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First Bancshares by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,197,000 after purchasing an additional 59,471 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in First Bancshares by 16.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 119,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $4,548,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.