Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 22,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $579,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Business First Bancshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $116,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $227,000. Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $333,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Separately, Hovde Group downgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Business First Bancshares
Business First Bancshares Price Performance
BFST traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.50. 63,535 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 66,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $841.89 million, a P/E ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.97. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. The business had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.
Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 24.14%.
Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares
In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. This trade represents a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.
Business First Bancshares Company 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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