The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases New Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. $BFST

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 432,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,276,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 1.33% of Business First Bancshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $83,985,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,591,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,566,000 after acquiring an additional 17,690 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 7.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,165,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,520,000 after acquiring an additional 81,833 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 0.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 989,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,761,000 after purchasing an additional 3,540 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 823,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,523,000 after purchasing an additional 175,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $31.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.08 and a 200-day moving average of $28.97. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.56 and a 12-month high of $32.53.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $91.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 17.07%. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BFST shares. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of 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 note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $34.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Keith Mansfield sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total transaction of $134,736.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,474,619.12. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Saundra Strong sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $155,998.44. The trade was a 17.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,275 shares of company stock valued at $2,435,775. Corporate insiders own 5.67% of the company’s stock.

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.