Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 12,212 Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,530,263 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,212 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 4.92% of First Bancshares worth $41,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in First Bancshares by 8.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,633,224 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,043,000 after buying an additional 213,743 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in First Bancshares by 25.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 792,033 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,458,000 after buying an additional 160,630 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in First Bancshares by 216.2% during 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in First Bancshares by 17.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 821,847 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,228,000 after buying an additional 119,779 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Bancshares by 24.2% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 522,810 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,504,000 after buying an additional 101,974 shares during the period. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on FBMS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FBMS opened at $24.95 on Wednesday. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.82 and a fifty-two week high of $32.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.21. The firm has a market cap of $779.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 0.88.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.11). First Bancshares had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The business had revenue of $60.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.10 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. This is an increase from First Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.84%.

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.