Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 195,800 shares, a drop of 19.8% from the March 15th total of 244,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 49,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 7,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total transaction of $156,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,725.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 295,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,552,000 after acquiring an additional 59,297 shares during the period. KG&L Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. ClariVest Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $743,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 53,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 59,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 21,615 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.40. The company had a trading volume of 28,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,250. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $521.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.49. Business First Bancshares has a one year low of $13.05 and a one year high of $25.57.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.06. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.22% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $101.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 21.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James cut shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.33.

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.