First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02, Zacks reports. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS.

First Bancshares Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FBMS traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.64. The stock had a trading volume of 71,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,683. The company has a market capitalization of $956.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $22.96 and a 12 month high of $32.06.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 39.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Bancshares from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Hovde Group dropped their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $29.50 to $28.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.75.

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.