Americana Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,338 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BFST. Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $476,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $405,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $432,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 9.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,862,000 after buying an additional 33,870 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.29. 91,193 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 96,442. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $30.30. The stock's fifty day moving average is $26.23 and its 200 day moving average is $25.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $776.61 million, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.78%.

Business First Bancshares 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.