Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group increased their price target on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.05. The company has a market capitalization of $873.20 million, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at $4,819,890.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 over the last 90 days. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after acquiring an additional 50,955 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 68,506 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 9.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 33,870 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after buying an additional 345,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 6.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 201,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,482,000 after buying an additional 11,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.