First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on FBMS. Hovde Group upped their target price on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on First Bancshares in a report on Sunday, October 20th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FBMS traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $33.34. 4,306 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 194,992. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $22.96 and a fifty-two week high of $34.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.92.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.40 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 18.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that First Bancshares will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.68%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,751 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 73.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,133 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 6,731 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in First Bancshares by 310.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 91,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,380,000 after buying an additional 69,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 25,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 8,145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

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.