First Bancshares Driving A High-Growth Plan Across The Gulf States

Mississippi’s First Bancshares (FBMS) continues to impress me with its growth strategy, and it would seem that the Street agrees, as the shares are up another 18% from when I last wrote about the bank and up close to 40% from my first article about the company on Seeking Alpha. Both of those figures put First Bancshares well ahead of the typical bank, and the company continues to execute a cogent “buy-and-build” plan that is expanding its footprint across the Gulf Coast.

I believe there are more potential gains from here, though I will say again that this is a high-growth/high-risk story within banking. Although loan growth remains healthy and there’s not nearly the same level of CRE lending competition in the Gulf that there is in areas like New York City, this is still a relatively mature part of the cycle and First Bancshares is likely going to see more competition as it pushes into markets like North Florida.

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First Bancshares Driving A High-Growth Plan Across The Gulf States