First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) most popular amongst retail investors who own 40%, insiders hold 31%
Key Insights
Significant control over First Guaranty Bancshares by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
A look at the shareholders of First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 40% to be precise, is retail investors. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.
Individual insiders, on the other hand, account for 31% of the company's stockholders. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of First Guaranty Bancshares.
Check out our latest analysis for First Guaranty Bancshares
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About First Guaranty Bancshares?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
First Guaranty Bancshares already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of First Guaranty Bancshares, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
First Guaranty Bancshares is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Marshall Reynolds is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.4% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 9.3% by the third-largest shareholder. In addition, we found that Alton Lewis, the CEO has 0.9% of the shares allocated to their name.
On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of First Guaranty Bancshares
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
It seems insiders own a significant proportion of First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc.. Insiders have a US$44m stake in this US$143m business. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 40% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over First Guaranty Bancshares. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
Private Company Ownership
We can see that Private Companies own 19%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.
Next Steps:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with First Guaranty Bancshares (including 1 which is potentially serious) .
Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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