The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Declares $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the bank on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th.

First Bancshares has increased its dividend by an average of 28.9% per year over the last three years.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of First Bancshares stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.52. 168,241 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 134,370. First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $39.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.75.

About First Bancshares

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.