Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Buys Shares of 13,908 Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $357,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% in the 3rd 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. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $245,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $294,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

BFST stock traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.49. 13,012 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 85,135. 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 stock has a market cap of $664.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $25.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.00.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 264,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BFST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. 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 research 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.