First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Price Target Cut to $28.00

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Hovde Group from $29.50 to $28.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Hovde Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.04% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of First Bancshares stock opened at $24.77 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $773.32 million, a PE ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $22.82 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $104.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.30 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 20.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Bancshares will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted 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 worth $80,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $87,000. ELCO Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. 69.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.