Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Sells $153,093.50 in Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Mark Folse sold 5,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $153,093.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 58,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,729,665. This represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

BFST stock opened at $29.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $863.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.52. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.07 and a 12-month high of $30.32.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $69.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.41 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 17.01%. On average, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Business First Bancshares declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BFST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

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.