Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Shares Bought by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 472,430 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,230 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.60% of Business First Bancshares worth $12,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 523,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,441,000 after buying an additional 24,992 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 7.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 407,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,468,000 after buying an additional 27,023 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 921.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 295,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,580,000 after buying an additional 266,380 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,709,000 after buying an additional 25,920 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 25.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 171,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,365,000 after buying an additional 34,602 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of BFST opened at $24.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $727.87 million, a P/E ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.04. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.25.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rick D. Day bought 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares 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.