Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Shares Bought by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,970 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 68,506 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $802,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 2,249.7% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 22,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 21,395 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $450,000. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 333,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,231,000 after purchasing an additional 17,095 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $25.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $653.57 million, a PE ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.97. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.88 and a 52-week high of $26.68.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $112.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.16 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 22.05%.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,264.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Business First Bancshares news, EVP Saundra Strong sold 6,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.32, for a total transaction of $159,516.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $285,483. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,906 shares of company stock valued at $377,392 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares 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.