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

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 124,500 shares, a decline of 42.4% from the November 15th total of 216,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 88,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,819,890.81. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,480 shares of company stock worth $329,972. 6.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BFST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after buying an additional 50,955 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 523,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,441,000 after acquiring an additional 24,992 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after acquiring an additional 68,506 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 33,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,051,000 after purchasing an additional 345,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.87. The stock had a trading volume of 82,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 67,305. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.44. Business First Bancshares 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 quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $823.31 million, a PE ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares will post 2.29 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group lowered Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

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.