Insider Buying: First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) Director Acquires 99,277 Shares of Stock

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) Director Edgar Smith III purchased 99,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.28 per share, for a total transaction of $822,013.56. Following the acquisition, the director owned 958,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,936,570.44. This trade represents a 11.55% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

First Guaranty Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:FGBI traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.31. 26,931 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,175. The firm has a market cap of $137.45 million, a P/E ratio of -3.43 and a beta of 0.47. First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.31 and a 52 week high of $11.02. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $24.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.66 million. First Guaranty Bancshares had a negative return on equity of 12.25% and a negative net margin of 16.83%. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Guaranty Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 25th. First Guaranty Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Guaranty Bancshares

An institutional investor recently raised its position in First Guaranty Bancshares stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) by 1,288.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,942 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 6,442 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Guaranty Bancshares were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 39.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Guaranty Bancshares to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Guaranty Bancshares from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

First Guaranty Bancshares Company Profile

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Hammond, Louisiana. Through its principal subsidiary, First Guaranty Bank, the company provides community banking services to individuals, businesses and organizations.

First Guaranty Bank offers deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit and business deposits. Its lending activities include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, construction and development loans, residential real estate loans, agricultural lending and consumer loans.

The bank also provides treasury management, online and mobile banking, cash management and other financial services.