StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on FBMS. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Price Performance

First Bancshares stock opened at $30.98 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.65. 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 stock has a market cap of $967.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.93. First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $22.96 and a 12-month high of $34.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $104.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Bancshares will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBMS. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in First Bancshares by 3,387.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $89,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $103,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 652.7% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481 shares in the last quarter. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.