E&G Advisors LP Buys New Stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

E&G Advisors LP purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 27,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,000. E&G Advisors LP owned 0.09% of Business First Bancshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company's stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $227,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 26.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company's stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $333,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BFST. Raymond James raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ BFST traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.48. 64,634 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 114,757. The business's 50 day moving average is $26.44 and its 200-day moving average is $25.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $811.76 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.00.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.78%.

Business First Bancshares 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.