Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 28.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 472,430 shares of the company's stock worth $12,141,000 after buying an additional 88,230 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 95.7% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 44,163 shares of the company's stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 21,593 shares during the period. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $967,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $304,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,362,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BFST. Raymond James raised shares of 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 upgraded Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Business First Bancshares
Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares
In other news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. The trade was a 0.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.
Business First Bancshares Stock Performance
Business First Bancshares stock traded down $2.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.52. 116,169 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 82,382. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The stock has a market cap of $665.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is 24.78%.
About Business First Bancshares
(
Free Report)
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.
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