First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Trading Down 3.5%

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) shares dropped 3.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $24.34 and last traded at $24.34. Approximately 2,258 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 99% from the average daily volume of 160,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBMS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. TheStreet lowered shares of First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

First Bancshares Trading Down 0.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $781.75 million, a P/E ratio of 9.94 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $60.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.10 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 20.00%. As a group, analysts forecast that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $12,681,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,115,691 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,724,000 after acquiring an additional 106,088 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $1,788,000. Petiole USA ltd lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Petiole USA ltd now owns 202,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,929,000 after acquiring an additional 32,643 shares during the period. Finally, FCG Investment Co bought a new position in First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $679,000. 69.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Bancshares Company 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.