Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 244,100 shares, a growth of 8.2% from the February 29th total of 225,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 50,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, January 15th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.33.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ BFST opened at $21.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $550.57 million, a PE ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Business First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $13.05 and a 12 month high of $25.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.14 and a 200-day moving average of $21.39.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $101.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.40 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 18.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 21.54%.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total transaction of $156,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,725.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $162,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 295,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,552,000 after acquiring an additional 59,297 shares during the period. ClariVest Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $743,000. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 53,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 59,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 21,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.