George Cummings III Sells 15,000 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 15,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total transaction of $428,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 281,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,024,877.20. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $28.90 on Thursday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.51 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $944.45 million, a P/E ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.50. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $89.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.99 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 11.10%. On average, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 15,600.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 389.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BFST. Stephens set a $33.00 target price on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.33.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

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.