Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 9.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 48,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,803 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BFST. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $116,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.8 %

BFST opened at $28.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $841.92 million, a PE ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.97 and a 52 week high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. The company had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group cut shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. The trade was a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total value of $105,987.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. This represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992. Insiders own 6.45% 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.