Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Short Interest Update

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 146,300 shares, a decrease of 31.3% from the July 15th total of 212,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 66,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total value of $39,387.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $529,497.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total value of $39,387.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,497.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $141,468.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 213,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,406 shares of company stock worth $340,372. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,968,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after acquiring an additional 68,506 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,568,000 after acquiring an additional 50,955 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $802,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 2,249.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 22,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 21,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.67.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:BFST traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $21.62. The company had a trading volume of 17,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,274. The firm has a market capitalization of $551.35 million, a PE ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.71. Business First Bancshares has a one year low of $17.88 and a one year high of $26.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $112.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.16 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, August 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.05%.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

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.