First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) Share Price Passes Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.38 and traded as high as $10.36. First Guaranty Bancshares shares last traded at $10.13, with a volume of 30,921 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of First Guaranty Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce”.

First Guaranty Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.09. The stock has a market cap of $175.46 million, a PE ratio of -3.33 and a beta of 0.44.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The bank reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $22.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.15 million. First Guaranty Bancshares had a negative return on equity of 17.06% and a negative net margin of 21.47%. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Guaranty Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. First Guaranty Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is -1.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Marshall T. Reynolds acquired 32,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $7.77 per share, with a total value of $250,007.52. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,025,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,741,996.69. This trade represents a 1.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Edgar R. Smith III bought 109,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.17 per share, for a total transaction of $999,997.67. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 784,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,192,948. The trade was a 16.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 420,537 shares of company stock valued at $3,572,915. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Guaranty Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FGBI. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 1,288.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,942 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 6,442 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 6,606 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 28,347 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 10,641 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,048 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 3,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 49,565 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 4,956 shares during the last quarter. 39.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Guaranty Bancshares Company Profile

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Hammond, Louisiana. Through its principal subsidiary, First Guaranty Bank, the company provides a diversified range of commercial and retail banking services. Founded in 1932, First Guaranty Bancshares has grown from a community mutual bank into a publicly traded institution listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker FGBI.

The company’s core business activities encompass traditional deposit products and lending solutions.