Ranger Investment Management L.P. Sells 54,213 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Ranger Investment Management L.P. lessened its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 320,745 shares of the company's stock after selling 54,213 shares during the quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 1.09% of Business First Bancshares worth $8,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 37.5% in 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 period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $245,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST traded down $0.17 during trading on Monday, hitting $21.42. 23,214 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 85,026. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $30.30. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.10 and its 200 day moving average is $26.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $633.00 million, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 24.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rick D. Day acquired 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.