Short Interest in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Rises By 6.4%

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 187,000 shares, an increase of 6.4% from the September 15th total of 175,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 83,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ BFST traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $26.39. 9,042 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,400. The stock has a market cap of $673.00 million, a PE ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.97. Business First Bancshares has a one year low of $17.90 and a one year high of $26.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.29 and a 200-day moving average of $22.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $112.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.16 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 22.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,264.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Saundra Strong sold 6,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.32, for a total value of $159,516.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,483. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,906 shares of company stock valued at $377,392 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after purchasing an additional 50,955 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 68,506 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after purchasing an additional 345,000 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 201,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 11,506 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 121,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,975 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group increased their price target on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

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.