Curi RMB Capital LLC Lowers Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Curi RMB Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 46,524 shares during the quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC owned 0.85% of Business First Bancshares worth $6,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $294,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at $6,728,696.10. This trade 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. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of BFST traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $23.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 187,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 87,537. The company's 50 day moving average is $24.32 and its 200 day moving average is $25.89. The stock has a market cap of $699.08 million, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.04. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

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.