First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Posted by ABMN Staff on Mar 19th, 2023

StockNews.com lowered shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FBMS. Hovde Group downgraded First Bancshares from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on First Bancshares from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $31.00.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FBMS opened at $25.09 on Wednesday. First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $24.84 and a 1-year high of $35.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $779.30 million, a PE ratio of 8.80 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $30.21 and its 200-day moving average is $31.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $56.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.60 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 26.51%. Sell-side analysts predict that First Bancshares will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 7th. This is a positive change from First Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.47%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in First Bancshares by 11.1% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,011,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,099,000 after acquiring an additional 201,594 shares in the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Bancshares by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,546 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,705,000 after purchasing an additional 428,546 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of First Bancshares by 18.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,208,528 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,099,000 after purchasing an additional 186,367 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Bancshares by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 702,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,473,000 after purchasing an additional 32,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EJF Capital LLC grew its position in shares of First Bancshares by 564.0% in the third quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 442,392 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,214,000 after purchasing an additional 375,765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.27% of the company’s stock.

First Bancshares Company Profile

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First Bancshares, Inc operates as a bank holding company which engages in banking services such as personal and business, which include checking, savings, and loans, cards, and others. It operates through the following segments: Commercial/Retail Bank, Mortgage Banking, and Holding Company. The Commercial/Retail Bank segment provides a full range of commercial banking services to corporations and other business customers.