Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $439,000 Stock Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,086 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 688 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Business First Bancshares worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $245,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $294,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $22.73 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $30.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $671.72 million, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.45% 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.