Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,262 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.23% of First Bancshares worth $1,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBMS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,149 shares of the bank’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 6,063 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,115,691 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,724,000 after acquiring an additional 106,088 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, Petiole USA ltd increased its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Petiole USA ltd now owns 202,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,929,000 after buying an additional 32,643 shares during the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS opened at $32.77 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.93. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $22.96 and a one year high of $34.40.

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

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBMS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

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.