First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a research note released on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

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

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBMS opened at $36.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $38.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 0.91.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBMS. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. CWM LLC raised its position in First Bancshares by 3,387.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $103,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

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.