Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) - Equities researchers at DA Davidson raised their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Business First Bancshares in a report released on Tuesday, January 28th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $3.10 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.70. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares' current full-year earnings is $2.70 per share.
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 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%.
BFST has been the subject of a number of other reports. Hovde Group raised Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Business First Bancshares
Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.7 %
NASDAQ:BFST traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $26.99. The company had a trading volume of 92,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,620. The firm has a market capitalization of $797.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $26.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.59. Business First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.
Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 345,000 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 921.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 295,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,580,000 after acquiring an additional 266,380 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 194.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 129,677 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,568,000 after acquiring an additional 50,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,150,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,819,890.81. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.78%.
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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