The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Receives $35.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the four brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.50.

FBMS has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on First Bancshares in a research report on Sunday. They set a "sell" rating for the company. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut First Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday.

First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ FBMS traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $33.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 141,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 195,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company's 50-day moving average is $32.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.43. First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $22.96 and a fifty-two week high of $34.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.92.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First Bancshares will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 26,514 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at $463,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $895,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Bancshares by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,197,000 after purchasing an additional 59,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in First Bancshares by 16.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 119,512 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company's stock.

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.