Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Hovde Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $33.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $31.50. Hovde Group's price target indicates a potential upside of 19.18% from the company's previous close.
Separately, Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Business First Bancshares
Business First Bancshares Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:BFST traded up $2.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.69. The company had a trading volume of 250,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 122,430. The firm has a market capitalization of $817.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.00. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $26.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.40. Business First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.
Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares
In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 185,557 shares in the company, valued at $4,891,282.52. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.
Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BFST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,568,000 after purchasing an additional 50,955 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,385 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $333,000. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 62,199 shares of the company's stock worth $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 7,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company's stock worth $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 345,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company's stock.
Business First Bancshares Company Profile
(
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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