Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) CFO Sells $36,974.00 in Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) CFO Greg Robertson sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.41, for a total transaction of $36,974.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 67,835 shares in the company, valued at $1,791,522.35. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.1%

BFST stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.26. The company had a trading volume of 59,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,898. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.47. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.07 and a 12 month high of $29.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $777.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.87.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $80.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.50 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 15.94%. As a group, analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Business First Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.17%.

Business First Bancshares declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 1,532.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 159,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 149,712 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 17.5% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 648,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,301,000 after purchasing an additional 96,720 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 467.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 107,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 88,693 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 697,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,190,000 after buying an additional 82,349 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 730,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,252,000 after buying an additional 81,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.75.

About Business First Bancshares

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.