Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 2,904 Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 6.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 48,372 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,904 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in First Bancshares were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $36,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in First Bancshares by 3,387.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in First Bancshares by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 2,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $87,000. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

FBMS stock opened at $32.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.30. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $34.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.93.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $104.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid 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 3.05%. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 39.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FBMS. StockNews.com began coverage on First Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.