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

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.78, for a total value of $317,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 201,180 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,500.40. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BFST traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.05. The stock had a trading volume of 207,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 207,003. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.56 and a 52 week high of $32.53.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 17.07%.The business had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.31 million. On average, research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.28%.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,608,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,636,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $579,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 255.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 441,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,948,000 after purchasing an additional 317,650 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares in the first quarter worth $1,282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

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.