First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS - Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the bank's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock 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 given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.58. 115,269 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 192,866. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $22.96 and a fifty-two week high of $34.93. The business's 50 day moving average is $32.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.91.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders 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 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. First Bancshares's payout ratio is 45.25%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $36,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in First Bancshares by 3,387.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $89,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in First Bancshares by 652.7% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank's stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares during the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.