First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) Lifted to “Buy” at Zacks Investment Research

Posted by on Jun 10th, 2022

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI – Get Rating) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Zacks.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $30.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Zacks Investment Research‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.29% from the stock’s current price.

According to Zacks, “First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. offers personalized commercial banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals. It provides a variety of deposit products, including personal and business checking and savings accounts, time deposits, money market accounts and negotiable order of withdrawal accounts. The Bank also offers other services including personal and commercial credit cards, remote deposit capture, safe deposit boxes, official checks, traveller’s checks, Internet banking, online bill pay, mobile banking and lockbox services. First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. is based in Hammond, Louisiana. “

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of First Guaranty Bancshares to $30.00 and gave the stock a “na” rating in a research note on Monday, May 16th. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of First Guaranty Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 3rd.

First Guaranty Bancshares stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.25. The company had a trading volume of 39,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,066. First Guaranty Bancshares has a 1-year low of $16.48 and a 1-year high of $29.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.12. The stock has a market cap of $281.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.36.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. First Guaranty Bancshares had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 15.99%. As a group, analysts forecast that First Guaranty Bancshares will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Chairman Marshall T. Reynolds sold 1,148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.99, for a total value of $32,132.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 12,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $356,816.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Marshall T. Reynolds sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.16, for a total transaction of $30,802.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 10,892 shares of the bank’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its position in First Guaranty Bancshares by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 17,383 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in First Guaranty Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in First Guaranty Bancshares by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in First Guaranty Bancshares by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,728 shares of the bank’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.33% of the company’s stock.

About First Guaranty Bancshares (Get Rating)

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.

Further Reading

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