Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) announced its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $93.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.25 million.

Here are the key takeaways from Business First Bancshares’ conference call:

• Core profitability improved materially, with core EPS of $0.79, core ROAA of 1.17%, and a 61.1% core efficiency ratio. Core net interest margin expanded 12 basis points to 3.80%, supported by higher loan yields and lower funding costs.
• Loans and deposits both grew at roughly a 7% annualized rate, led by Houston and Southwest Louisiana. Management expects mid- to upper-single-digit loan growth in the fourth quarter and sees further opportunity to reduce higher-cost brokered deposits and borrowings.
• Management expects additional margin expansion in the fourth quarter and views low- to mid-single-digit quarterly expansion as achievable if rate changes remain measured. Progressive acquisition cost savings were realized faster than expected, while fourth-quarter core expenses are expected to be about $57 million with low-single-digit organic growth thereafter.
• The company highlighted significant longer-term growth opportunities from Meta and Amazon data-center investments in Louisiana, SpaceX’s planned Southwest Louisiana development, expanded Houston and Dallas teams, and a new Tyler, Texas commercial team.
• Credit improvement was slower than anticipated, with non-performing loans declining only modestly to 1.24% of loans and charge-offs increasing due to a previously identified commercial relationship. Management expects roughly $15 million of NPA reductions in the fourth quarter and continued improvement toward an NPL ratio of 50 basis points or less.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $31.82 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.08 and its 200 day moving average is $29.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.78. Business First Bancshares has a one year low of $23.55 and a one year high of $32.53.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BFST. Hovde Group upped their price target on Business First Bancshares from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $35.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director George W. Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.33, for a total transaction of $313,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 183,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,756,730.85. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Saundra Strong sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.98, for a total value of $31,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $155,998.44. This represents a 17.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 41,275 shares of company stock valued at $1,309,275 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.67% of the company’s stock.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Through its principal banking subsidiary, b1BANK, the company provides financial services to businesses, professionals and individual customers.

b1BANK offers commercial and consumer deposit accounts, commercial and real estate lending, residential mortgage loans, treasury management and other traditional banking services. The bank also provides wealth management and related financial services designed to support business owners, institutions and retail customers.

Business First Bancshares was established in 2006 and has expanded its presence across Louisiana and into Texas.