The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) Short Interest Up 23.1% in March

The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 341,000 shares, an increase of 23.1% from the March 15th total of 277,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 169,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Institutional Trading of First Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in First Bancshares by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,566,603 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,948,000 after acquiring an additional 36,340 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in First Bancshares by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 83,125 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,438,000 after acquiring an additional 7,251 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,681,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. 69.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FBMS traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $23.35. 101,135 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 165,094. First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $22.82 and a 52 week high of $32.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.13. The company has a market cap of $729.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.88.

First Bancshares (NASDAQ:FBMS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $60.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.10 million. First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 19.47%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Bancshares will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from First Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBMS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective 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 research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of First Bancshares from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" 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.

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