Barclays PLC Purchases 28,184 Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS - Free Report) by 48.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,748 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 28,184 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.28% of First Bancshares worth $2,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the bank's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 50.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the bank's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the third quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on FBMS shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Monday. They issued a "sell" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.17.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBMS traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $34.96. The stock had a trading volume of 46,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 185,624. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $39.08. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $35.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.94. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.93.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

First Bancshares 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.