Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Lowers Position in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lessened its holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 26.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,585 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,945 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.08% of First Bancshares worth $639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Planning increased its stake in First Bancshares by 310.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 91,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after acquiring an additional 69,254 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its stake in First Bancshares by 45.7% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 25,986 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 8,145 shares during the last quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $4,548,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 53.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 68,344 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 16.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 119,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,105,000 after buying an additional 16,723 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FBMS opened at $32.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $22.96 and a one year high of $34.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.92.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $104.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FBMS. StockNews.com began coverage on First Bancshares in a research note on Saturday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

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.