Stifel Financial Corp Has $650,000 Stock Holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 120.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,218 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 11,048 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.06% of First Bancshares worth $650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in First Bancshares by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FBMS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a research report on Monday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.17.

First Bancshares Stock Up 1.1 %

FBMS opened at $34.96 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $22.96 and a one year high of $39.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.94.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 45.25%.

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.