Business First Bancshares, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 (NASDAQ:BFST)

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th.

Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Business First Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 20.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Business First Bancshares to earn $3.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.3%.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

BFST stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.02. 12,418 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,985. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.03. Business First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $22.51 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The company has a market cap of $883.01 million, a P/E ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.79.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $89.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.99 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 11.10%. As a group, analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.