The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Shares Acquired by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC boosted its position in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,194 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in First Bancshares were worth $103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FBMS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 7.0% in the 2nd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,647 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,874,000 after purchasing an additional 37,167 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 1,454.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 619,730 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,912,000 after purchasing an additional 579,851 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 65.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 231,635 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 91,269 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $4,960,000 after buying an additional 16,777 shares in the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on FBMS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Monday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.17.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS opened at $34.57 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $35.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.96 and a 12-month high of $39.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.93.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued 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 2.89%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.