Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $32.53 and last traded at $32.5570, with a volume of 16,732 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on BFST. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $35.75.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.73.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.30% and a net margin of 17.08%. The firm had revenue of $93.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.25 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, November 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 21.43%.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director George W. Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.33, for a total value of $313,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 183,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,756,730.85. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Donald Chad Carter sold 1,875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.64, for a total transaction of $59,325.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,992.88. This represents a 12.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 26,075 shares of company stock valued at $821,759 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $83,985,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,491,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,853,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,276,000. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,743,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

Business First Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Through its principal banking subsidiary, b1BANK, the company provides financial services to businesses, professionals and individual customers.

b1BANK offers commercial and consumer deposit accounts, commercial and real estate lending, residential mortgage loans, treasury management and other traditional banking services. The bank also provides wealth management and related financial services designed to support business owners, institutions and retail customers.

Business First Bancshares was established in 2006 and has expanded its presence across Louisiana and into Texas.