Royce & Associates LP Has $2.81 Million Holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 89.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,309 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 737,576 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in First Bancshares were worth $2,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FBMS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 72.7% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,984 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 26,514 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,197,000 after purchasing an additional 59,471 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $103,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in First Bancshares by 17.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FBMS shares. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS opened at $36.20 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $38.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.91.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 45.25%.

First Bancshares 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.