Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Downgraded by Hovde Group to “Market Perform”

Hovde Group lowered shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Hovde Group currently has $31.50 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $30.00.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $28.58 on Wednesday. Business First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $25.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $844.25 million, a P/E ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid 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 yield of 1.96%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 203,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,940.51. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 over the last three months. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $67,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 194.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after purchasing an additional 129,677 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $579,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 75,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,925,000 after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.