First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

FBMS has been the topic of several other research reports. TheStreet downgraded First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Hovde Group cut their price target on First Bancshares from $29.50 to $28.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

First Bancshares Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ FBMS opened at $25.75 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $803.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.92. First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $22.96 and a 12-month high of $32.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.57.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $104.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.30 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 20.00%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $87,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at $103,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of First Bancshares by 652.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.