Stifel Financial Corp Raises Stock Holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 120.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,218 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,048 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in First Bancshares were worth $650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $89,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 73.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the bank’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 50.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBMS has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Monday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, First Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.17.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FBMS opened at $34.96 on Thursday. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $39.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.61 and its 200 day moving average is $31.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.93.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 45.25%.

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.