Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires Shares of 17,972 Business First Bancshares, Inc. $BFST

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 17,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 115.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 38,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 20,620 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 1,532.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 159,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 149,712 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 85,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,080,000 after buying an additional 6,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,150,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $31.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.78. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.56 and a 52 week high of $32.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.95.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 11.03%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BFST. Stephens boosted their target price on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Business First Bancshares from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.75.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $62,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 172,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,073.95. This trade represents a 1.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Saundra Strong sold 1,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.98, for a total value of $31,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $155,998.44. This trade represents a 17.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,275 shares of company stock valued at $2,435,775. 5.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Business First Bancshares 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.