Brokerages Set The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Price Target at $35.50

Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.50.

FBMS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price target on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $35.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $22.96 and a fifty-two week high of $38.21.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.25%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,197,000 after acquiring an additional 59,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Bancshares by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,404,491 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,487,000 after purchasing an additional 91,314 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in First Bancshares by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 971,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 28,215 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in First Bancshares by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,647 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,874,000 after purchasing an additional 37,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 675,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,706,000 after purchasing an additional 12,567 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.