DA Davidson Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Posted by Brian Himes on Jul 27th, 2026

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by DA Davidson from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.32% from the company’s current price.

BFST has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Hovde Group upped their target price on Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $34.50.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ BFST opened at $31.16 on Friday. Business First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $22.56 and a twelve month high of $31.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $91.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.07%. On average, research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director George W. Cummings III sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total value of $428,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 281,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,024,877.20. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 36,595 shares of company stock worth $1,031,732 over the last three months. 5.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 255.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 441,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,948,000 after purchasing an additional 317,650 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 823,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,523,000 after purchasing an additional 175,284 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,532.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 159,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 149,712 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 467.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 107,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 88,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 7.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,165,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,520,000 after buying an additional 81,833 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

About Business First Bancshares

(Get Free Report)

Business First Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Business First Bank, a regional community bank headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company provides a full suite of commercial and retail banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and individual consumers. Business First Bancshares operates under a community-focused model, emphasizing personalized service, local decision-making and relationship banking.

The company’s primary business activities include commercial lending, treasury and cash management, and deposit services.