Keith Mansfield Sells 4,200 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) COO Keith Mansfield sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total value of $134,736.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,474,619.12. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.4%

Business First Bancshares stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.82. 232,657 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 205,075. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.56 and a 52-week high of $32.39.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.07%.The company had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.31 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.50.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $1,608,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 0.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 989,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,761,000 after acquiring an additional 3,540 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 121,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,283,000 after acquiring an additional 3,997 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 63.3% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 18,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 6,988 shares during the period. Finally, FreeGulliver LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the first quarter worth $812,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.