24,417 Shares in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Bought by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,618,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,599,000 after purchasing an additional 245,491 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,512,000 after purchasing an additional 83,664 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 623,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,023,000 after purchasing an additional 328,189 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 607,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,624,000 after purchasing an additional 46,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,837,000 after purchasing an additional 88,546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $24.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.69. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $727.53 million, a P/E ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $79.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.54 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BFST. Hovde Group upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens lowered their price target on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day bought 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.