The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $11.71 Million Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 455,539 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,775 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 1.54% of Business First Bancshares worth $11,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,728,696.10. The trade was a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST stock opened at $23.69 on Monday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $30.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $700.56 million, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.80 and its 200-day moving average is $25.81.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $79.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.54 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on BFST shares. Stephens reduced their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hovde Group raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

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.