Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Sells $320,800.00 in Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total value of $320,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 231,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,416,254.40. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BFST traded down $0.12 on Friday, reaching $31.82. 232,657 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 205,075. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.78. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.56 and a 52 week high of $32.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.41.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $91.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 11.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the first quarter worth $579,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,636,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $1,282,000. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 823,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,523,000 after acquiring an additional 175,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FreeGulliver LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $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.