Donald Chad Carter Sells 1,875 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) EVP Donald Chad Carter sold 1,875 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.64, for a total transaction of $59,325.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,992.88. The trade was a 12.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $31.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.61. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $22.56 and a one year high of $32.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 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 anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS 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 dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 21.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BFST. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 15,600.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 389.7% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,124 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $123,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.