Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $25.44, but opened at $26.35. Business First Bancshares shares last traded at $26.96, with a volume of 51,063 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on BFST shares. Hovde Group raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In related 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 value of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972 over the last ninety days. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $227,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth $333,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 6.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $800.68 million, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.40.

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.