Business First Bancshares, Inc. (BFST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 on November 30th

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Sunday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share on Monday, November 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Business First Bancshares has a payout ratio of 20.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Business First Bancshares to earn $3.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.4%.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ BFST opened at $32.73 on Wednesday. Business First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $24.19 and a twelve month high of $33.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.53.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $93.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.25 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.08% and a return on equity of 11.18%. Equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc. is the bank holding company for b1BANK, a regional bank serving businesses, individuals and institutions. The bank offers commercial and personal banking, treasury management, private banking and digital banking services. Founded in Louisiana in 2006 and headquartered in Baton Rouge, Business First has expanded its presence across Louisiana and into Texas. Its services include lending and deposit products for businesses, as well as checking, savings and other banking solutions for consumers.