Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) EVP Donald Chad Carter Sells 3,778 Shares

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) EVP Donald Chad Carter sold 3,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.27, for a total transaction of $103,026.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $378,044.01. This represents a 21.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BFST traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.17. 180,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 125,274. The company has a market cap of $834.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.25. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.07 and a 52 week high of $28.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.01% and a return on equity of 11.41%. The company had revenue of $69.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.41 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, February 28th. Investors of record on Sunday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 21.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 6.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 649,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,000,000 after buying an additional 38,370 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 77,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth $346,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 697,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,190,000 after buying an additional 82,349 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

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.