First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05, Yahoo Finance reports. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 20.00%. The business had revenue of $104.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share.

First Bancshares Trading Up 1.0 %

FBMS opened at $24.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $753.34 million, a P/E ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.68 and its 200-day moving average is $25.95. First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $22.82 and a 1-year high of $32.06.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FBMS. StockNews.com upgraded First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet cut shares of First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of First Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.