Analysts Set Expectations for BFST Q1 Earnings

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) – Research analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Business First Bancshares in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 28th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas forecasts that the company will earn $0.63 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares’ current full-year earnings is $2.27 per share.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on BFST. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ BFST opened at $27.29 on Wednesday. Business First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $18.97 and a 52 week high of $30.30. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $806.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.00.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at $4,819,890.81. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 26.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $333,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% 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.