First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBMS opened at $34.50 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.83. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.94. 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 has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $39.21.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 864.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 974 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,102 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.