Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $0.47 Per Share, DA Davidson Forecasts

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report issued on Monday, April 29th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $0.47 for the quarter. DA Davidson currently has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares’ current full-year earnings is $2.38 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Business First Bancshares’ FY2025 earnings at $2.70 EPS.

BFST has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $20.19 on Tuesday. Business First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $13.05 and a twelve month high of $25.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.49 and its 200-day moving average is $21.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $515.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.94.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.05%.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total value of $156,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,725.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $218,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 25.1% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 295,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,552,000 after purchasing an additional 59,297 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,276,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,945,000 after purchasing an additional 16,094 shares in the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $743,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.1% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 53,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.