First Bancshares (FBMS) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. The company also provides commercial loans comprising secured and unsecured loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment and machinery; consumer loans consisting of equity lines of credit, as well as secured and unsecured loans for financing automobiles, home improvements, education, and personal investments; and real estate construction and acquisition loans. In addition, it originates loans to purchase existing residential homes, construct new homes, and to refinance existing mortgages; and provides financial and wealth management services. Further, the company offers online internet banking services, automated teller machines, voice response telephone inquiry services, commercial sweep accounts, cash management services, safe deposit boxes, merchant services, mobile deposit, direct deposit of payroll and social security checks, automatic drafts for various accounts, and credit card services. It serves small to medium-sized businesses, professional concerns, individuals, associations, organizations, and governmental authorities. The company operates full-service banking and financial service offices, motor bank facility, and loan production offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana. The First Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $35.87 to $36.48
• 50-Day Range: $31.19 to $38.26
• 52-Week Range: $22.96 to $39.08
• Volume: 41,843 shs
• Average Volume: 183,441 shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.13 billion
• P/E Ratio: 16.39
• Dividend Yield: 2.76%
• Price Target: $37.17
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

First Bancshares Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

First Bancshares scored higher than 38% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 774th out of 959 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

First Bancshares has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.50, and is based on 2 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

First Bancshares has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 6.27%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for First Bancshares are expected to grow by 6.27% in the coming year, from $2.55 to $2.71 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of First Bancshares is 16.31, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 135.63.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of First Bancshares is 16.31, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 49.04.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

First Bancshares has a P/B Ratio of 1.18. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: N/A
• Short Interest Level: N/A

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for FBMS.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

First Bancshares pays a meaningful dividend of 2.76%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

First Bancshares does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of First Bancshares is 45.25%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, First Bancshares will have a dividend payout ratio of 36.90% next year. This indicates that First Bancshares will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for FBMS.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.95

News Sentiment

First Bancshares has a news sentiment score of 0.95. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.74 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 7 news articles for First Bancshares this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, First Bancshares insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 3.47% of the stock of First Bancshares is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

69.95% of the stock of First Bancshares is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

FBMS Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have FBMS shares performed this year?

First Bancshares' stock was trading at $29.33 on January 1st, 2024. Since then, FBMS shares have increased by 22.9% and is now trading at $36.05.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were First Bancshares' earnings last quarter?

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July, 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The bank earned $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.40 million. First Bancshares had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 17.25%.

Who are First Bancshares' major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of First Bancshares include Lord Abbett & CO. LLC (5.61%), State Street Corp (3.11%), Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. (2.88%) and Geode Capital Management LLC (2.16%). Insiders that own company stock include Diana Renee Moore and Ted E Parker.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of First Bancshares?

Shares of FBMS stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of First Bancshares own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that First Bancshares investors own include NVIDIA (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), Meta Platforms (META), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Netflix (NFLX) and Visa (V).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/24/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 11/22 Dividend: 11/08/2024
• Dividend Payable: 11/22/2024
• Today: 12/18/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: National commercial banks
• Sub-Industry: Banking
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:FBMS
• CUSIP: N/A
• CIK: 947559
• Web: www.thefirstbank.com
• Phone: (601) 268-8998
• Fax: 601-268-8904
• Employees: 1,078
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $37.17
• High Stock Price Target: $45.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $32.50
• Potential Upside/Downside: +3.1%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.50
• Research Coverage: 4 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $2.21
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 16.31
• Forward P/E Ratio: 14.14
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $75.46 million
• Net Margins: 17.25%
• Pretax Margin: 22.23%
• Return on Equity: 8.19%
• Return on Assets: 1.00%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.33
• Current Ratio: 0.84
• Quick Ratio: 0.84

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $267.28 million
• Price / Sales: 4.21
• Cash Flow: $3.29 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.95
• Book Value: $30.52 per share
• Price / Book: 1.18

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 31,199,000
• Free Float: 30,116,000
• Market Cap: $1.12 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.93