The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 5,958 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 471,702 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,958 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $10,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BFST. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $116,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 75.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 4.0% during the second quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BFST opened at $24.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.32. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.90 and a 1 year high of $26.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $613.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%. The company had revenue of $112.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 22.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $141,468.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $141,468.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at $5,415,000.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,906 shares of company stock worth $377,392 over the last three months. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group increased 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Business First Bancshares Company 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.