First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Upgraded to “Buy” by DA Davidson

DA Davidson upgraded shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $34.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FBMS. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Stephens increased their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, First Bancshares has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $35.60.

First Bancshares Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $28.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $896.61 million, a P/E ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. First Bancshares has a one year low of $22.82 and a one year high of $35.90.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $78.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.00 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 21.96%. Research analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 8th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 7th. This is a boost from First Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FJ Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,521,546 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,705,000 after acquiring an additional 428,546 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 50.7% during the 1st quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 842,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,756,000 after acquiring an additional 283,354 shares in the last quarter. Petiole USA ltd grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 217.8% during the 1st quarter. Petiole USA ltd now owns 391,647 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,933,000 after acquiring an additional 268,420 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,633,224 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,043,000 after acquiring an additional 213,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Bancshares by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,208,528 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,099,000 after acquiring an additional 186,367 shares in the last quarter. 60.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.