Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Cut to “Market Perform” at Hovde Group

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) was downgraded by equities researchers at Hovde Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $31.50 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $30.00. Hovde Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 6.64% from the company’s previous close.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

BFST stock opened at $29.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $872.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.97. 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 has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.26.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,819,890.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,264.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 75.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 5.6% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 6.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 201,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 11,506 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 2,249.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 22,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 21,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $450,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.