The First Bancshares, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:FBMS)

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the bank on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th.

First Bancshares has raised its dividend payment by an average of 28.9% per year over the last three years.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FBMS opened at $33.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.91. First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $34.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FBMS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Hovde Group raised their price target 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on First Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.50.

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.