George Cummings III Sells 10,000 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFSTGet Free Report) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.33, for a total value of $313,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 183,745 shares in the company, valued at $5,756,730.85. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of BFST stock opened at $31.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.94. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.56 and a 12-month high of $32.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.78.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFSTGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $91.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 17.07%. Equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.28%.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 15,600.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 389.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $97,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price 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 boosted their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on BFST

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

(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.

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Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST)

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