Business First Bancshares (BFST) Competitors

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) and Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, community ranking, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, media sentiment, institutional ownership and profitability.

Do analysts prefer BUR or BFST?

Burford Capital currently has a consensus price target of $19.50, indicating a potential upside of 48.98%. Business First Bancshares has a consensus price target of $29.17, indicating a potential upside of 14.02%. Given Burford Capital's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Burford Capital is more favorable than Business First Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Burford Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Business First Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has more risk and volatility, BUR or BFST?

Burford Capital has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Business First Bancshares has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings & valuation, BUR or BFST?

Burford Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Business First Bancshares. Business First Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Burford Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Burford Capital	$563.24M	5.09	$610.52M	$1.16	11.28
Business First Bancshares	$254.16M	2.97	$71.04M	$2.32	11.03

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in BUR or BFST?

Business First Bancshares received 116 more outperform votes than Burford Capital when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.09% of users gave Burford Capital an outperform vote while only 57.85% of users gave Business First Bancshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Burford Capital	Outperform Votes 13 59.09%	Underperform Votes 9 40.91%
Business First Bancshares	Outperform Votes 129 57.85%	Underperform Votes 94 42.15%

Is BUR or BFST more profitable?

Burford Capital has a net margin of 34.81% compared to Business First Bancshares' net margin of 14.92%. Business First Bancshares' return on equity of 11.57% beat Burford Capital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Burford Capital	34.81%	8.07%	4.28%
Business First Bancshares	14.92%	11.57%	1.02%

Is BUR or BFST a better dividend stock?

Burford Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Business First Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Burford Capital pays out 10.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Business First Bancshares pays out 24.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in BUR or BFST?

47.3% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Burford Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to BUR or BFST?

In the previous week, Business First Bancshares had 2 more articles in the media than Burford Capital. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Business First Bancshares and 2 mentions for Burford Capital. Burford Capital's average media sentiment score of 1.33 beat Business First Bancshares' score of 1.05 indicating that Burford Capital is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Burford Capital	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Business First Bancshares	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Burford Capital beats Business First Bancshares on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.