First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) Stock Price Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI)’s share price passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.55 and traded as high as $10.84. First Guaranty Bancshares shares last traded at $10.5390, with a volume of 28,255 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

First Guaranty Bancshares Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.29 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The bank reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.07. First Guaranty Bancshares had a negative net margin of 21.47% and a negative return on equity of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $22.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.15 million. On average, analysts expect that First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

First Guaranty Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Edgar R. Smith III purchased 138,083 shares of First Guaranty Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,072,904.91. Following the transaction, the director owned 675,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,247,461.73. This represents a 25.70% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Marshall T. Reynolds purchased 32,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $7.77 per share, with a total value of $250,007.52. Following the purchase, 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 420,537 shares of company stock valued at $3,572,915. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FGBI. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Guaranty Bancshares by 1,288.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,942 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 6,442 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 135.6% in 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 boosted its stake in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 60.1% in 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 first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,048 shares of the bank’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 3,742 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in First Guaranty Bancshares by 11.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 49,565 shares of the bank’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 4,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

About First Guaranty Bancshares

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.