Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report) Director George Cummings III sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.27, for a total value of $131,334.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 193,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,058,406.15. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.
Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.4%
BFST stock opened at $31.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.56 and a twelve month high of $32.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.93 and its 200-day moving average is $28.93.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 17.07%. Sell-side analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BFST shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.50.
View Our Latest Analysis on BFST
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $83,985,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,591,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,566,000 after buying an additional 17,690 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 7.5% during 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 during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 4,036.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,140,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,123,000 after buying an additional 1,113,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $33,491,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Business First Bancshares
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.
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