19,770 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. $BFST Bought by Kings Path Partners LLC

Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 19,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,985,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 7.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,491,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 0.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 989,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,761,000 after acquiring an additional 3,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,853,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $31.36 on Thursday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.08 and a 12-month high of $32.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 11.03%. On average, research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rick D. Day bought 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.61 per share, with a total value of $47,415.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total transaction of $317,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 174,073 shares in the company, valued at $5,526,817.75. The trade was a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 63,275 shares of company stock valued at $2,007,675. Insiders own 5.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on BFST shares. Stephens boosted their target price on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Hovde Group raised their price target on Business First Bancshares from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.75.

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.