Rick Day Purchases 1,500 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Rick Day purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.55 per share, for a total transaction of $41,325.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 267,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,366,456.75. This represents a 0.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $26.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $798.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.24. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $28.84.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $69.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.41 million. On average, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 21.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter worth $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 160.2% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BFST has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of 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 company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares presently has an average 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.