Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Short Interest Update

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 124,500 shares, a drop of 42.4% from the November 15th total of 216,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 88,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group cut shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFST. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 9.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,862,000 after acquiring an additional 33,870 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 68,506 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $476,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $579,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after buying an additional 129,677 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.87. 82,493 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 67,305. The stock has a market cap of $823.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.98. Business First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares will post 2.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

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.