First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) Stock Price Crosses Below 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) shares crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.65 and traded as low as $8.08. First Guaranty Bancshares shares last traded at $8.09, with a volume of 12,908 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FGBI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered First Guaranty Bancshares from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised First Guaranty Bancshares to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

First Guaranty Bancshares Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.45 million, a P/E ratio of -3.43 and a beta of 0.47.

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

First Guaranty Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at First Guaranty Bancshares

In other news, Director Edgar Smith, III acquired 99,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.28 per share, with a total value of $822,013.56. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 958,523 shares in the company, valued at $7,936,570.44. This represents a 11.55% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert W. Walker acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.74 per share, for a total transaction of $70,960.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,593.48. This trade represents a 51.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased a total of 118,108 shares of company stock valued at $1,104,179 over the last 90 days. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Guaranty Bancshares

An institutional investor recently raised its stake in First Guaranty Bancshares stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) by 1,288.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & 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 reporting period. Institutional investors own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

About First Guaranty Bancshares

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.