Mark Folse Sells 4,854 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Mark Folse sold 4,854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.51, for a total transaction of $143,241.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 53,286 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,469.86. This trade represents a 8.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST traded down $0.25 on Wednesday, reaching $29.22. The company had a trading volume of 270,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 158,010. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.07 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $865.20 million, a PE ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.44.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $69.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.41 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 17.01%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, February 28th. Investors of record on Sunday, February 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.51%.

Business First Bancshares announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 3.2% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 14,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 17,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 22.8% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 7.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BFST. Stephens lifted their price target on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

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.