Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Expected to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $0.47 Per Share

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for Business First Bancshares in a report released on Monday, April 29th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas expects that the company will post earnings per share of $0.47 for the quarter. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares’ current full-year earnings is $2.38 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Business First Bancshares’ FY2025 earnings at $2.70 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BFST. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $20.54 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.70. Business First Bancshares has a one year low of $13.05 and a one year high of $25.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $524.59 million, a P/E ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.94.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $10,968,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 2,365.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 246,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,760,000 after acquiring an additional 236,500 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 25.1% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 295,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,552,000 after acquiring an additional 59,297 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $743,000. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $713,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total value of $156,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,306 shares in the company, valued at $543,725.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.05%.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services.