Insider Selling: Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Sells 10,000 Shares

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total transaction of $320,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 231,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,416,254.40. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.82. The company had a trading volume of 232,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,075. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.73 and a 200-day moving average of $28.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.78. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.56 and a 12 month high of $32.39.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.31 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 21.28%.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gator Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 242,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,343,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 9.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 15,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hovde Group increased their price target on Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.50.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Business First Bank, a regional community bank headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company provides a full suite of commercial and retail banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and individual consumers. Business First Bancshares operates under a community-focused model, emphasizing personalized service, local decision-making and relationship banking.

The company’s primary business activities include commercial lending, treasury and cash management, and deposit services.