First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a report issued on Tuesday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Hovde Group upped their target price on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS stock opened at $32.13 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.00. First Bancshares has a one year low of $22.96 and a one year high of $34.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its 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 return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $104.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Bancshares will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBMS. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of First Bancshares by 3,387.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the first quarter worth approximately $103,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of First Bancshares by 652.7% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares during the period. 69.95% of the stock is 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.