Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 11,331 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,331 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in 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. Creative Planning bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $476,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 75.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group lowered shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $28.20 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $30.30. The firm has a market cap of $833.03 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.47.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. This trade represents a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $105,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,940.51. This represents a 1.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992. Company insiders own 6.45% 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.