Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Sunday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share on Monday, November 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Business First Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 20.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Business First Bancshares to earn $3.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.4%.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $32.73 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $31.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.53. Business First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $24.19 and a fifty-two week high of $33.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $93.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.25 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.08% and a return on equity of 11.18%. Research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc. is the bank holding company for b1BANK, a regional bank serving businesses, individuals and institutions. The bank offers commercial and personal banking, treasury management, private banking and digital banking services. Founded in Louisiana in 2006 and headquartered in Baton Rouge, Business First has expanded its presence across Louisiana and into Texas. Its services include lending and deposit products for businesses, as well as checking, savings and other banking solutions for consumers.