American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 538,402 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 88,546 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 1.82% of Business First Bancshares worth $13,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company's stock worth $5,037,000 after buying an additional 129,677 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $592,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 921.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 295,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,580,000 after buying an additional 266,380 shares during the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
BFST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group raised Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.
Read Our Latest Report on Business First Bancshares
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Business First Bancshares Trading Down 3.1 %
NASDAQ BFST traded down $0.69 on Friday, reaching $21.83. The company had a trading volume of 143,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 83,011. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $645.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.21.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.
Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.78%.
Business First Bancshares Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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