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

Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 3.2 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.18. The company has a market capitalization of $860.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $471,264.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Business First Bancshares news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,264.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 68,506 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,862,000 after buying an additional 33,870 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew 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 acquiring an additional 345,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position 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 valued at $4,482,000 after acquiring an additional 11,506 shares during the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.