Insider Selling: Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Insider Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Warren Mcdonald also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 1st, Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of Business First Bancshares stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $39,387.72.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 3.1 %

BFST opened at $25.63 on Monday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.99. The company has a market capitalization of $653.62 million, a P/E 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $112.05 million for 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after buying an additional 50,955 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 494,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,183,000 after acquiring an additional 3,358 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after acquiring an additional 68,506 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 345,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 333,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,231,000 after acquiring an additional 17,095 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

About Business First Bancshares

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.