First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) PT Lowered to $28.00 at Hovde Group

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) had its price objective decreased by Hovde Group from $29.50 to $28.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Hovde Group currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on FBMS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a market perform rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. TheStreet lowered First Bancshares from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of First Bancshares from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $31.00.

First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ FBMS opened at $25.23 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $787.63 million, a P/E ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $22.96 and a 12-month high of $32.06.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 20.00%. The firm had revenue of $104.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Analysts forecast that First Bancshares will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 39.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FBMS. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of First Bancshares by 17.2% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,966 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. ELCO Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

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.