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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a research note issued on Monday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.17.

First Bancshares Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FBMS opened at $34.54 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.73. 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 52-week low of $22.96 and a 52-week high of $39.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $846,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $56,256,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Bancshares by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 675,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,706,000 after buying an additional 12,567 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in First Bancshares by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,748 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,787,000 after buying an additional 28,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $421,000. 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.