Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Short Interest Update

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) saw a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 255,700 shares, an increase of 74.8% from the July 31st total of 146,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 70,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $39,387.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,595 shares in the company, valued at $529,497.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total value of $39,387.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,497.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Saundra Strong sold 6,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.32, for a total transaction of $159,516.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $285,483. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,406 shares of company stock worth $340,372 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 189,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after buying an additional 9,489 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $326,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $225,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 494,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,358 shares during the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 0.7 %

BFST opened at $24.28 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.78. Business First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $17.88 and a 12 month high of $26.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $619.19 million, a P/E ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 12.19%. The company had revenue of $112.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group increased their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

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.