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

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on FBMS. Hovde Group boosted their target price on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of First Bancshares stock opened at $31.15 on Tuesday. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $34.40. The company has a market cap of $972.47 million, a P/E ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.91.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. Petiole USA ltd raised its position in First Bancshares by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Petiole USA ltd now owns 202,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,929,000 after purchasing an additional 32,643 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 72.7% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,984 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after buying an additional 26,514 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $463,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in First Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth about $895,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,197,000 after acquiring an additional 59,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

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.