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

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,700 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the July 31st total of 12,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 13,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Guaranty Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in First Guaranty Bancshares by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 272,035 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 71,775 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $138,000. Institutional investors own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

First Guaranty Bancshares Price Performance

First Guaranty Bancshares stock opened at $10.31 on Monday. First Guaranty Bancshares has a 52 week low of $8.39 and a 52 week high of $13.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $128.98 million, a P/E ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.32.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.33. First Guaranty Bancshares had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 5.84%. The firm had revenue of $36.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.86 million. On average, equities analysts predict that First Guaranty Bancshares will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

First Guaranty Bancshares Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. First Guaranty Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 130.61%.

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.