The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Business First Bancshares, Inc. $BFST

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 432,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,276,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BFST. Gator Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew 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 purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 242,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,343,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 15,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In related news, EVP Donald Chad Carter sold 1,875 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.64, for a total transaction of $59,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,992.88. The trade was a 12.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Keith Mansfield sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total transaction of $134,736.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,474,619.12. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 78,275 shares of company stock worth $2,435,775 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.67% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.1%

BFST stock opened at $31.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.78. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.56 and a 1-year high of $32.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 17.07%.The business had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.31 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.28%.

Business First Bancshares Profile

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.