First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

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

First Guaranty Bancshares Price Performance

FGBI stock opened at $10.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $173.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.29 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.47. First Guaranty Bancshares has a 1 year low of $4.31 and a 1 year high of $11.02.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The bank reported $0.14 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $22.15 million. First Guaranty Bancshares had a negative net margin of 21.47% and a negative return on equity of 17.06%. Research analysts anticipate that First Guaranty Bancshares will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other First Guaranty Bancshares news, Director Marshall T. Reynolds acquired 32,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.77 per share, for a total transaction of $250,007.52. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,025,997 shares in the company, valued at $15,741,996.69. This represents a 1.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Edgar R. Smith III bought 138,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $7.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,072,904.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 675,349 shares in the company, valued at $5,247,461.73. This trade represents a 25.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 420,537 shares of company stock valued at $3,572,915 over the last quarter. 47.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Guaranty Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 1,288.4% in the first 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 raised its position in First Guaranty Bancshares by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 6,606 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in First Guaranty Bancshares by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 28,347 shares of the bank’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 10,641 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in First Guaranty Bancshares by 8.8% during the 1st 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 lifted its holdings in First Guaranty Bancshares by 11.1% during the 1st 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

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.