First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,700 shares, an increase of 9.5% from the December 31st total of 11,600 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 11,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

First Guaranty Bancshares Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FGBI traded up $0.09 on Wednesday, reaching $10.47. 14,967 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,448. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.06. The company has a market cap of $130.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 0.40. First Guaranty Bancshares has a 12 month low of $8.39 and a 12 month high of $15.25.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.13). First Guaranty Bancshares had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 5.62%. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Guaranty Bancshares will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Guaranty Bancshares Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. First Guaranty Bancshares's payout ratio is 4.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 40,338 shares of the bank's stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $138,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 68,788 shares of the bank's stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 5,070 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC bought a new position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $366,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in First Guaranty Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $122,000. 39.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About First Guaranty Bancshares

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc operates as the holding company for First Guaranty Bank that provides commercial banking services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products, including personal and business checking, savings, money market, and demand accounts, as well as time deposits to consumers, small businesses, and municipalities.