Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $25.44, but opened at $26.35. Business First Bancshares shares last traded at $26.96, with a volume of 51,063 shares.
The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%.
Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.14%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
BFST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group upgraded 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 report on Friday.
View Our Latest Research Report on Business First Bancshares
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $158,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 185,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,891,282.52. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the third quarter worth $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 26.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 6.8% in the second 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 last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 3,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% in 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 during the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Business First Bancshares Stock Performance
The stock has a market capitalization of $817.96 million, a PE ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.
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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