Insider Selling: Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) EVP Sells $31,980.00 in Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) EVP Saundra Strong sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.98, for a total transaction of $31,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $155,998.44. This trade represents a 17.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.2%

Business First Bancshares stock opened at $31.66 on Friday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.56 and a twelve month high of $32.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.78.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 17.07%.The firm had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.31 million. As a group, equities 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 announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BFST. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens increased their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $1,608,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,636,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $579,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 255.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 441,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,948,000 after buying an additional 317,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.