Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 13,850 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 28.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,353 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,850 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.12% of Business First Bancshares worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,037,000 after buying an additional 129,677 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $592,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 921.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 295,275 shares of the company's stock worth $7,580,000 after buying an additional 266,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 price target 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 raised their target price for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 3.1 %

Business First Bancshares stock traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.83. The company had a trading volume of 143,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 83,011. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $645.12 million, a P/E ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's fifty day moving average is $25.84 and its 200-day moving average is $26.21.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. On average, research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date 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 bought 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.

About Business First Bancshares

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.