Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 459,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,388 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $11,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $116,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Argent Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $333,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $28.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.04. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $844.87 million, a PE ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $105,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. This represents a 1.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. The trade was a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock valued at $366,992 in 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.