First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) Announces Earnings Results

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05, Yahoo Finance reports. The company had revenue of $104.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.30 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 20.00%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.86 EPS.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of First Bancshares stock opened at $24.13 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $753.34 million, a PE ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.95. First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $22.82 and a fifty-two week high of $32.06.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBMS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of First Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

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.