Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Takes $432,000 Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $432,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Business First Bancshares as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $405,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $476,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 345,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of BFST opened at $28.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.45. The company has a market cap of $833.06 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.97. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. The business had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,264.60. This represents a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,819,890.81. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 in the last three months. 6.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday.

Business First Bancshares Profile

Business First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services.