Intech Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 11,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 921.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 194.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after buying an additional 129,677 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 472,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,141,000 after acquiring an additional 88,230 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $1,362,000. Finally, Fourthstone LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $1,150,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BFST shares. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ BFST opened at $25.40 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.27. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $750.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.