First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Stock Rating Lowered by Janney Montgomery Scott

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on First Bancshares in a report on Sunday, October 20th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS stock opened at $33.02 on Thursday. First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $22.96 and a 12 month high of $34.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.92. 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 (NASDAQ:FBMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.01. First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $71.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.20 million. Equities research analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 11.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,751 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in 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 last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 6,731 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 69,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 45.7% during the second 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

First Bancshares Company Profile

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.