George Cummings III Sells 15,000 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 0.7%

BFST traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $28.69. 233,997 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 179,926. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.48. The company has a market cap of $937.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.79. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.51 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 17.02%.The company had revenue of $89.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.99 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 21.28%.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,080,000. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 648,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,301,000 after purchasing an additional 96,720 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 730,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,252,000 after purchasing an additional 81,594 shares during the period. Gator Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 52.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 65,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 22,573 shares during the period. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Stephens set a $33.00 price objective on Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.33.

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.