Jane Street Group LLC Has $969,000 Stock Holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Jane Street Group LLC decreased its holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS - Free Report) by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,159 shares of the bank's stock after selling 45,627 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned about 0.10% of First Bancshares worth $969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 1,454.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 619,730 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,912,000 after buying an additional 579,851 shares during the period. Westchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $8,249,000. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $4,548,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Bancshares by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,404,491 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,487,000 after purchasing an additional 91,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 65.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 231,635 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 91,269 shares during the period. 69.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBMS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "sell" rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.17.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of FBMS traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $35.00. 177,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 184,843. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.96 and a fifty-two week high of $39.08. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's fifty day moving average is $35.81 and its 200 day moving average is $32.32.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. First Bancshares's payout ratio is 45.25%.

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.