The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC lifted its position in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 48.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 86,748 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,184 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in First Bancshares were worth $2,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in First Bancshares by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 190,928 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,777 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in First Bancshares by 6.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 48,372 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in First Bancshares by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $216,000. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:FBMS opened at $34.96 on Wednesday. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.96 and a 52 week high of $39.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.92. The company 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 quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

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.