Short Interest in First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) Grows By 32.4%

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 18,000 shares, a growth of 32.4% from the February 13th total of 13,600 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 11,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

First Guaranty Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FGBI opened at $6.83 on Monday. First Guaranty Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $6.56 and a fifty-two week high of $15.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.75. The company has a market capitalization of $85.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) last announced 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%. Analysts expect that First Guaranty Bancshares will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Guaranty Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 82,497 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,306 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 13,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 2,894 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 8.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 68,788 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 5,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Guaranty Bancshares by 48.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 26,780 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 8,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.52% of the company’s stock.

First Guaranty Bancshares Company Profile

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.