Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Short Interest Update

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 244,100 shares, a growth of 8.2% from the February 29th total of 225,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 50,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BFST. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James cut shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Monday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.33.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total transaction of $156,590.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,725.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. Osaic Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 1,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 93.7% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 631.7% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 65.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 5,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.77. 5,701 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 50,389. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $526.73 million, a PE ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.09 and its 200 day moving average is $21.41. Business First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $13.05 and a 52 week high of $25.57.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.22% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $101.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.54%.

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.