The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Shares Acquired by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC increased its position in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS - Free Report) by 447.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,746 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 15,323 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC owned 0.06% of First Bancshares worth $602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FBMS. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of First Bancshares by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 93,066 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,990,000 after acquiring an additional 4,690 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $203,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,666,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $1,054,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FBMS shares. Hovde Group increased their price objective 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 research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on First Bancshares in a research note on Thursday. They set a "sell" rating for the company. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.50.

First Bancshares Price Performance

First Bancshares stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.65. The company had a trading volume of 130,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,059. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $33.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.11. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.96 and a 12-month high of $38.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.91.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. First Bancshares's payout ratio is 45.25%.

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.