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 report released on Friday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $35.07 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $22.96 and a fifty-two week high of $39.21.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 40.98%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBMS. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,256,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,598,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,933,000 after acquiring an additional 74,483 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in First Bancshares by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,030,933 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,083,000 after acquiring an additional 27,548 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in First Bancshares by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 971,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 28,215 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Bancshares by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 967,043 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,847,000 after purchasing an additional 68,396 shares during the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.