First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on FBMS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a market perform rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $32.00.

First Bancshares Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of FBMS opened at $23.15 on Friday. First Bancshares has a one year low of $22.82 and a one year high of $32.06. The company has a market cap of $722.97 million, a P/E ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.10.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $60.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.10 million. First Bancshares had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 10.60%. Research analysts forecast that First Bancshares will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. This is an increase from First Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.84%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $226,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in First Bancshares by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,566,603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,948,000 after acquiring an additional 36,340 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in First Bancshares by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 83,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,438,000 after acquiring an additional 7,251 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new stake in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $12,681,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.