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 report issued on Wednesday. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Bancshares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of FBMS opened at $32.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $34.40.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $104.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 8.82%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in First Bancshares by 3,387.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $87,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $103,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in First Bancshares by 652.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 6,481 shares during the period. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancshares Company Profile

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.