The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Position Increased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 119,512 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,723 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in First Bancshares were worth $3,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,149 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 6,063 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in First Bancshares by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,115,691 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,724,000 after buying an additional 106,088 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares during the period. Petiole USA ltd increased its position in First Bancshares by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Petiole USA ltd now owns 202,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,929,000 after buying an additional 32,643 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

First Bancshares Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of FBMS opened at $31.65 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $988.08 million, a PE ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.93. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.96 and a 12-month high of $34.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 39.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FBMS. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.50.

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.