Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) EVP Sells 1,000 Shares

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) EVP Saundra Strong sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.98, for a total value of $31,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,998.44. The trade was a 17.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Business First Bancshares stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Thursday, hitting $31.71. 261,564 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 206,508. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.56 and a 1 year high of $32.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,853,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth $1,608,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 989,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,761,000 after buying an additional 3,540 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 121,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,283,000 after acquiring an additional 3,997 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 63.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 18,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 6,988 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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