First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) in a report issued on Wednesday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott cut First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of 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, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $36.28 on Wednesday. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $38.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.06 and its 200 day moving average is $29.61.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in First Bancshares by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,006 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 6,904 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 652.7% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,474 shares of the bank’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 6,481 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in First Bancshares by 72.7% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,984 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 26,514 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Bancshares by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,197,000 after buying an additional 59,471 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancshares in the first quarter worth $103,000. 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.