First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.75.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS stock opened at $35.22 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $39.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.94.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 40.98%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $846,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 475,014 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,262,000 after acquiring an additional 26,349 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in First Bancshares by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 971,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 28,215 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $1,054,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of First Bancshares by 48.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,787,000 after buying an additional 28,184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

About First Bancshares

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.