First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) Director Robert Walker Acquires 8,500 Shares

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) Director Robert Walker bought 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.91 per share, with a total value of $92,735.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 62,621 shares in the company, valued at $683,195.11. The trade was a 15.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

First Guaranty Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of FGBI stock opened at $7.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.23. First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.31 and a 52 week high of $11.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.49 million, a PE ratio of -3.29 and a beta of 0.42. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $24.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 million. First Guaranty Bancshares had a negative net margin of 16.83% and a negative return on equity of 12.25%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

First Guaranty Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 25th. First Guaranty Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is -1.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Guaranty Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Guaranty Bancshares by 1,288.4% in 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 period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in First Guaranty Bancshares by 135.6% during the fourth 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in First Guaranty Bancshares by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 28,347 shares of the bank’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 10,641 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in First Guaranty Bancshares by 11.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 8.8% in 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. Institutional investors own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FGBI has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut First Guaranty Bancshares from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Guaranty Bancshares to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Guaranty Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

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.