Rick Day Buys 1,500 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Rick Day purchased 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $31.61 per share, for a total transaction of $47,415.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 269,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,531,570.61. The trade was a 0.56% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.01. The company had a trading volume of 264,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 204,029. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.33. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.56 and a fifty-two week high of $32.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.07%.The business had revenue of $91.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.31 million. Analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 21.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BFST shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 255.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 441,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,948,000 after purchasing an additional 317,650 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 823,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,523,000 after buying an additional 175,284 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 1,532.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 159,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,883,000 after buying an additional 149,712 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 467.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 107,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after buying an additional 88,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 7.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,165,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,520,000 after buying an additional 81,833 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Business First Bank, a regional community bank headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company provides a full suite of commercial and retail banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and individual consumers. Business First Bancshares operates under a community-focused model, emphasizing personalized service, local decision-making and relationship banking.

The company’s primary business activities include commercial lending, treasury and cash management, and deposit services.