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

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.00.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FBMS shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of First Bancshares in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TheStreet cut First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $29.50 to $28.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in First Bancshares by 17.2% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,966 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in First Bancshares by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 30,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in First Bancshares by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 61,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in First Bancshares by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,102 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 134,660 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,632,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

First Bancshares Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:FBMS opened at $24.77 on Monday. First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $22.82 and a fifty-two week high of $32.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $773.32 million, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.90.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $104.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.30 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 20.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Bancshares will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.68%.

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.