Barclays PLC Has $1.20 Million Stock Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 158.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,792 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,663 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.16% of Business First Bancshares worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BFST. ELCO Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.0% during the second quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 26.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 53,006 shares of the company's stock worth $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 3,385 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 75,003 shares of the company's stock worth $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 183,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,480 shares of company stock worth $329,972. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.54. The stock had a trading volume of 131,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 97,378. 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 company has a market capitalization of $724.94 million, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $27.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.25. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.97 and a 52 week high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.14%.

Business First Bancshares Company 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.