Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Joseph Vernon Johnson Sells 2,500 Shares

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at $4,819,890.81. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Joseph Vernon Johnson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 1st, Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $158,160.00.
• On Tuesday, October 29th, Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of Business First Bancshares stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total value of $105,987.40.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ BFST traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.09. 91,261 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 62,276. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.97 and a 1 year high of $27.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.22 and its 200-day moving average is $23.01. The company has a market capitalization of $770.70 million, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $116,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 75.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 4.0% in the 2nd 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 and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.