First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Shares Gap Up to $25.28

Shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $25.28, but opened at $25.99. First Bancshares shares last traded at $25.20, with a volume of 8,282 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FBMS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet cut First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

First Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $782.00 million, a PE ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.11). First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $60.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.10 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of First Bancshares by 17.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in First Bancshares by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 30,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in First Bancshares by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 61,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in First Bancshares by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,102 shares of the bank’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in First Bancshares by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 134,660 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,632,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. 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.