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

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.78, for a total transaction of $317,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 201,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,500.40. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 2.9%

Business First Bancshares stock opened at $31.05 on Thursday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.56 and a 52 week high of $32.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.87. 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 (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.31 million. On average, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. Gator Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 65,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 2.5% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 31,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 242,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,343,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BFST shares. Stephens raised their target price on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Hovde Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.50.

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.