Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $20 Million Stock Holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS – Get Rating) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 669,535 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 35,541 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in First Bancshares were worth $20,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. RMB Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $11,526,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 216.2% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 189,147 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,410,000 after buying an additional 129,326 shares in the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $3,159,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 5.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,726,796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,122,000 after buying an additional 86,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Bancshares by 56.9% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 144,634 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,137,000 after acquiring an additional 52,451 shares during the last quarter. 67.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of FBMS opened at $31.42 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.95 and a 1 year high of $35.97. The stock has a market cap of $975.91 million, a P/E ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $30.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.50.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.12). First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 26.51%. The company had revenue of $56.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.60 million. On average, equities analysts predict that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. This is a boost from First Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded First Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.50 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on First Bancshares from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, Hovde Group cut First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

First Bancshares Profile

(Get Rating)

First Bancshares, Inc (Mississippi) operates as a bank holding company. It provides banking services such as personal and business which include checking, savings, and loans, cards, and others. It operates through the following segments: Commercial/Retail Bank, Mortgage Banking, and Holding Company. The Commercial/Retail Bank segment provides a full range of commercial banking services to corporations and other business customers.