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

Analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a research report issued on Sunday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

FBMS has been the subject of several other research reports. Hovde Group boosted their price target on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Down 1.9 %

FBMS stock opened at $33.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 0.92. First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $22.96 and a 52 week high of $34.40. 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 (NASDAQ:FBMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that First Bancshares will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,548,000. Algebris UK Ltd acquired a new position in First Bancshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,492,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First Bancshares by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,404,491 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,487,000 after purchasing an additional 91,314 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in First Bancshares by 65.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 231,635 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 91,269 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 310.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 91,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 69,254 shares in the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.