Banc Funds Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 478,494 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Business First Bancshares accounts for about 1.4% of Banc Funds Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Banc Funds Co. LLC owned approximately 1.62% of Business First Bancshares worth $12,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $111,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $245,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $294,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.
Business First Bancshares Trading Up 3.2 %
NASDAQ BFST traded up $0.73 on Tuesday, hitting $23.21. 32,304 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 86,308. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week high of $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $686.37 million, a P/E ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.93.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is 24.78%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Separately, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.
Get Our Latest Report on Business First Bancshares
Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares
In other news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 264,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,728,696.10. This represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 6.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
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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