Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Sells $317,800.00 in Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.78, for a total transaction of $317,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 201,180 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,500.40. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Business First Bancshares stock traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $31.05. The stock had a trading volume of 207,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 207,003. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.56 and a 1-year high of $32.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.85.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $91.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 17.07%. As a group, analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $3,731,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,515,000. Man Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,829,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,491,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFST has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.50.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

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.