American International Group Inc. Has $378,000 Position in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

American International Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,611 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,691 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in First Bancshares were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in First Bancshares by 174.8% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 874 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in First Bancshares by 100.9% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 910 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 759.7% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,023 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 4,898 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $242,000. 60.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancshares Stock Up 0.5 %

FBMS stock opened at $26.64 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.27. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.82 and a fifty-two week high of $35.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $828.24 million, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.90.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.04). First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 22.26%. The firm had revenue of $80.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.30 million. On average, research analysts expect that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from First Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 7th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 35.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FBMS. Stephens dropped their price objective on First Bancshares from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 27th. DA Davidson raised First Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

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.