Insider Selling: Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.86, for a total transaction of $318,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 251,180 shares in the company, valued at $8,002,594.80. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $31.94. 307,402 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 204,747. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.56 and a 1 year high of $32.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.07%.The firm had revenue of $91.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.31 million. Equities analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 21.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 115.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 38,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 20,620 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 1,532.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 159,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 149,712 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 85,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 6,596 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,150,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, July 6th. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.50.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Business First Bank, a regional community bank headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company provides a full suite of commercial and retail banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and individual consumers. Business First Bancshares operates under a community-focused model, emphasizing personalized service, local decision-making and relationship banking.

The company’s primary business activities include commercial lending, treasury and cash management, and deposit services.