Business First Bancshares (BFST) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) is set to announce its earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, October 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.56 per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to listen to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued 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. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%. The firm had revenue of $112.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.16 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts expect Business First Bancshares to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $25.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $641.89 million, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.97. Business First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $17.90 and a 52-week high of $26.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 31st. Shareholders 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 2.22%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 22.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total value of $39,387.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $529,497.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $141,468.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 213,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,415,000.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,906 shares of company stock worth $377,392. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group raised their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.