The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 39,262 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of First Bancshares worth $1,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $846,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the first quarter worth approximately $895,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Bancshares by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,197,000 after acquiring an additional 59,471 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 119,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,105,000 after acquiring an additional 16,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,548,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FBMS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Janney Montgomery Scott cut First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Down 1.2 %

First Bancshares stock opened at $37.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.96 and a fifty-two week high of $39.08.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.25%.

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.