Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 171,115 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,602 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $4,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 158.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 28,663 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 523,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,441,000 after buying an additional 24,992 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 921.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 295,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,580,000 after buying an additional 266,380 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $592,000. Finally, Fourthstone LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $1,150,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group lowered shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,940.51. This represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,480 shares of company stock worth $329,972. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $25.82 on Tuesday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $30.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $762.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

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.