Short Interest in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Rises By 90.6%

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 254,400 shares, a growth of 90.6% from the December 31st total of 133,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 99,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Hovde Group raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $158,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 185,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,891,282.52. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $227,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $333,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.17. 106,812 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 126,332. Business First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $802.60 million, a P/E ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. Analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.14%.

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.