American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 91,269 Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 65.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,635 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,269 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.74% of First Bancshares worth $6,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $89,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $216,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in First Bancshares by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in First Bancshares by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 48,372 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

First Bancshares Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of FBMS opened at $32.09 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.97 and a 200 day moving average of $27.40. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.96 and a fifty-two week high of $34.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FBMS shares. Hovde Group raised their price objective on 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 assumed coverage on First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares 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.