What is DA Davidson’s Estimate for BFST FY2024 Earnings?

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson raised their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Business First Bancshares in a report issued on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas now expects that the company will post earnings of $2.28 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.17. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares’ current full-year earnings is $2.29 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Business First Bancshares’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.47 EPS.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of 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 report on Thursday. Hovde Group cut Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 0.4 %

Business First Bancshares stock opened at $25.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.46 and a 200-day moving average of $24.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $766.00 million, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.98.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $67,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $116,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $105,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. This trade represents a 1.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

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 given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

About Business First Bancshares

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.