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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a report released on Wednesday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

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

First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $33.98 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $34.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.93.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $104.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that First Bancshares will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in First Bancshares by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,503 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Bancshares by 1.8% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in First Bancshares by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of First Bancshares by 3,387.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. 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.