Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Takes $628,000 Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 24,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Business First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BFST. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 623,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,023,000 after acquiring an additional 328,189 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,618,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,599,000 after acquiring an additional 245,491 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,837,000 after acquiring an additional 88,546 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 472,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,141,000 after acquiring an additional 88,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,512,000 after acquiring an additional 83,664 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $24.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.69. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The firm has a market cap of $727.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $79.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.54 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. Analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rick D. Day bought 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BFST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens reduced their target price on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hovde Group raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

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.