Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 254,400 shares, an increase of 90.6% from the December 31st total of 133,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 99,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.
Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.7 %
BFST stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.99. The stock had a trading volume of 92,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,726. The firm has a market cap of $797.28 million, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.62.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.78%.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,819,890.81. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $227,000. Americana Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 26.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company's stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have weighed in on BFST. Hovde Group raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note 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 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Business First Bancshares
About Business First Bancshares
(
Get 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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