First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Trading Down 3.5%

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)’s share price fell 3.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $24.34 and last traded at $24.34. 2,258 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 99% from the average session volume of 160,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FBMS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

First Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.71 and its 200-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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.11). First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 20.00%. The firm 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in First Bancshares by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,530,263 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,271,000 after acquiring an additional 12,212 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of First Bancshares by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,115,691 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,724,000 after purchasing an additional 106,088 shares during the period. North Reef Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of First Bancshares by 0.8% in the third quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 1,106,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,850,000 after purchasing an additional 8,945 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $12,681,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Bancshares by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 340,112 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,173,000 after purchasing an additional 6,011 shares during the period. 69.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.