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

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

First Guaranty Bancshares Trading Up 1.5%

FGBI stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.31. The company had a trading volume of 26,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,175. The stock has a market cap of $137.45 million, a price-to-earnings 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 company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $8.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.19.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.08. First Guaranty Bancshares had a negative net margin of 16.83% and a negative return on equity of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $24.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.66 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Guaranty Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FGBI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of First Guaranty Bancshares from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Guaranty Bancshares to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.