Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.33, for a total value of $313,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 183,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,756,730.85. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.4%

BFST traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.16. The stock had a trading volume of 115,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,759. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.92. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.56 and a 52 week high of $32.53.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $91.81 million during 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 analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 4,036.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,140,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,123,000 after buying an additional 1,113,214 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 31,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,731,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,515,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BFST shares. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company 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.com, Business First Bancshares has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.50.

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.