Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $28.80 and last traded at $28.78, with a volume of 71563 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group upped their price target 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.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.54 and a 200-day moving average of $23.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $860.50 million, a PE ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,264.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $116,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 75.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.0% during the second quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.