Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Stephens lowered their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $32.00. The stock had previously closed at $23.64, but opened at $22.28. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Business First Bancshares shares last traded at $22.65, with a volume of 13,507 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on BFST. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day acquired 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 17,086 shares of the company's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $682.52 million, a PE ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.04. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $79.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $77.54 million. Research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

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.