Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Short Interest Update

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 198,900 shares, a decline of 13.7% from the January 15th total of 230,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 114,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.44. 60,386 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 114,905. Business First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $810.58 million, a PE ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.81.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Equities research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BFST. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 26.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $476,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $227,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $405,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $432,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Business First Bancshares

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.