Key Points
- Director Rick Day bought 1,500 BFST shares at an average price of $31.61, investing $47,415 and increasing his ownership to 269,901 shares.
- Business First Bancshares reported quarterly EPS of $0.71, slightly exceeding analysts’ $0.70 estimate, while shares opened at $32.01 near their 52-week high of $32.33.
- The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, equal to a 1.9% annualized yield, and analysts maintained a generally bullish outlook with an average price target of $34.50.
Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) Director Rick Day purchased 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $31.61 per share, for a total transaction of $47,415.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 269,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,531,570.61. The trade was a 0.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.
Business First Bancshares Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $32.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.78. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.56 and a 1-year high of $32.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.37.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company had revenue of $91.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.31 million. Equities analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.
Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 21.28%.
Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 15,600.0% during 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. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 389.7% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,669 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,124 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $123,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BFST. Stephens increased their price target on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their target price on Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $34.50.
Check Out Our Latest Report on BFST
Business First Bancshares Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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