Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 151,300 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the September 30th total of 187,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 74,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $26.54. 72,437 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 61,302. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Business First Bancshares has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $26.93. The company has a market cap of $676.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.84 and a 200 day moving average of $22.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 12.19%. The business had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 22.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $141,468.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 213,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,415,000.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $141,468.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Saundra Strong sold 6,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.32, for a total value of $159,516.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,483. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,906 shares of company stock worth $377,392 in the last three months. 6.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 50,955 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,115,000 after buying an additional 68,506 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company's stock worth $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 345,000 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 201,149 shares of the company's stock worth $4,482,000 after acquiring an additional 11,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 121,136 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,636,000 after acquiring an additional 4,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

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.