First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS opened at $35.89 on Thursday. First Bancshares has a one year low of $22.96 and a one year high of $38.21. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.42 and a 200-day moving average of $29.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancshares

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FBMS. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 1,454.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,249,000. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,548,000. Algebris UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,492,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 91,314 shares during the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.