21,397 Shares in Business First Bancshares, Inc. $BFST Bought by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 21,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 823,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,523,000 after purchasing an additional 175,284 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,532.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 159,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 149,712 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 467.0% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 107,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after buying an additional 88,693 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 12.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 176,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,617,000 after buying an additional 69,723 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director George W. Cummings III sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total value of $428,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 281,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,024,877.20. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,595 shares of company stock valued at $1,031,732. Corporate insiders own 5.67% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ BFST opened at $30.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.56 and a fifty-two week high of $31.04.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $89.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.99 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 17.02%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 21.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens set a $33.00 price target on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.33.

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.