Banc Funds Co. LLC Trims Stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Banc Funds Co. LLC lessened its position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 462,494 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,509 shares during the period. Banc Funds Co. LLC owned approximately 1.57% of Business First Bancshares worth $11,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Argent Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the company's stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the company's stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,970 shares of the company's stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 41,849 shares of the company's stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 49,570 shares of the company's stock worth $1,079,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group cut shares of Business First Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Business First Bancshares stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $28.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,169. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week high of $30.30. The company has a market cap of $851.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50-day moving average is $26.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.99. 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 (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,407,940.51. This represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at $471,264.60. The trade was a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,980 shares of company stock valued at $366,992 in the last quarter. 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.