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

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a research report released on Sunday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the bank’s stock.

FBMS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Hovde Group increased their price target on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of FBMS stock opened at $33.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.40. First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $34.40.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that First Bancshares will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. FCG Investment Co purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth about $679,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in First Bancshares by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,006 shares of the bank’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 6,904 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in First Bancshares by 47.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 24,549 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 7,846 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in First Bancshares by 652.7% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 6,481 shares during the period. 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.