Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 37,167 Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 898,647 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 2.88% of First Bancshares worth $28,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in First Bancshares by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,197,000 after acquiring an additional 59,471 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in First Bancshares by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,404,491 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,487,000 after buying an additional 91,314 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in First Bancshares by 65.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 231,635 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after buying an additional 91,269 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in First Bancshares by 9.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 190,928 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,960,000 after buying an additional 16,777 shares during the period. Finally, Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $4,548,000. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Friday, November 29th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.17.

First Bancshares Price Performance

FBMS stock opened at $37.30 on Thursday. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $39.08. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.29 and a 200 day moving average of $30.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 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.