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The First Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:FBMS) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 22% in the last month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been less than pleasing. After all, the share price is down 23% in the last three years, significantly under-performing the market.
Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.
Check out our latest analysis for First Bancshares
While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
First Bancshares saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 3.7% per year, over the last three years. This reduction in EPS is slower than the 8% annual reduction in the share price. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, in the past. The less favorable sentiment is reflected in its current P/E ratio of 11.42.
You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on First Bancshares' earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, First Bancshares' TSR for the last 3 years was -16%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!
A Different Perspective
First Bancshares provided a TSR of 1.6% over the last twelve months. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 0.2% over half a decade This suggests the company might be improving over time. Keeping this in mind, a solid next step might be to take a look at First Bancshares' dividend track record. This free interactive graph is a great place to start.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.