Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 95.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,163 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,593 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $1,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BFST. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $7,580,000 after purchasing an additional 266,380 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 194.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 129,677 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,362,000. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,150,000. Finally, Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $967,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $24.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $730.23 million, a PE ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.04. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.23.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rick D. Day bought 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. The trade was a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

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.