Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) CFO Sells 1,400 Shares

by · The Cerbat Gem

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report) CFO Greg Robertson sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.41, for a total transaction of $36,974.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 67,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,791,522.35. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.1%

BFST stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $26.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 59,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,898. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.47. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.07 and a 12 month high of $29.03. The company has a market capitalization of $777.56 million, a PE ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $80.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.50 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 11.08%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Business First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Business First Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 23.17%.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFST. Millennium Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 149,712 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 648,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,301,000 after purchasing an additional 96,720 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 467.0% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 107,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 88,693 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 13.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 697,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,190,000 after purchasing an additional 82,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 12.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 730,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,252,000 after buying an additional 81,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.75.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Business First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services.

Featured Stories