Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Sells $65,825.00 in Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Joseph Vernon Johnson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 1st, Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $158,160.00.
• On Tuesday, October 29th, Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of Business First Bancshares stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total value of $105,987.40.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $26.09 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.05. 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 market cap of $770.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.97. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $27.72.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly 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. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFST. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 75.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 66,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 201,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,482,000 after buying an additional 11,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 2,249.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 22,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 21,395 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

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.