Olympiad Research LP Acquires Shares of 31,027 The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS)

Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBMS) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 31,027 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $997,000. First Bancshares makes up 0.6% of Olympiad Research LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in First Bancshares by 11.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,751 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in First Bancshares by 73.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in First Bancshares by 54.3% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,133 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 6,731 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 310.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 91,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 69,254 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of First Bancshares by 45.7% during the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 25,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 8,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FBMS. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group increased their target price on First Bancshares from $29.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com began coverage on First Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

First Bancshares Trading Up 12.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FBMS opened at $37.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 0.91. The First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $38.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.14.

First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.25%.

First Bancshares 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.