Bokf Na Sells 14,072 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Bokf Na lessened its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 15.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,072 shares during the quarter. Bokf Na owned about 0.31% of Business First Bancshares worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,276,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,945,000 after buying an additional 16,094 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 494,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,183,000 after buying an additional 3,358 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,968,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 333,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,231,000 after buying an additional 17,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 2,365.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 246,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,760,000 after buying an additional 236,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group lifted their target price on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Rick D. Day bought 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.30 per share, with a total value of $36,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 262,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,334,535.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of BFST traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 130,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 90,278. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.60 and its 200-day moving average is $21.72. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $26.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $668.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 12.36%. The company had revenue of $112.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, August 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 22.05%.

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.