Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Decreases Stake in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lessened its stake in shares of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,925 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.’s holdings in First Bancshares were worth $6,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 73.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the bank’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Bancshares by 50.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $203,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $236,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $308,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FBMS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on First Bancshares in a research report on Sunday, February 9th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.75.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBMS opened at $37.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.45. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.96 and a 12 month high of $39.21.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.98%.

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.