Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.13 EPS

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $112.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.16 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 15.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 4.0 %

BFST stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.22. The company had a trading volume of 130,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 90,278. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.72. Business First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $16.92 and a 12 month high of $26.68. The stock has a market cap of $668.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, August 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group boosted their target price on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rick D. Day acquired 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.30 per share, for a total transaction of $36,540.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 262,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,334,535.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

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.