ABC Arbitrage SA Purchases Shares of 129,807 The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 129,807 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,000. ABC Arbitrage SA owned 0.42% of First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,256,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in First Bancshares by 1,454.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 619,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,912,000 after buying an additional 579,851 shares in the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $8,249,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,296,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $1,666,000. 69.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FBMS. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Bancshares in a report on Sunday, February 9th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Bancshares from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.75.

First Bancshares Price Performance

First Bancshares stock opened at $37.86 on Friday. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.96 and a 52-week high of $39.21. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.08 and its 200 day moving average is $34.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.