George Cummings III Sells 10,000 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.78, for a total value of $317,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 201,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,500.40. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

BFST stock opened at $31.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.79 and a 200-day moving average of $28.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.56 and a 12 month high of $32.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.78.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 17.07%.The business had revenue of $91.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.31 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $83,985,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,591,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,566,000 after purchasing an additional 17,690 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 7.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,165,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,520,000 after buying an additional 81,833 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $33,491,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 989,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,761,000 after buying an additional 3,540 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

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.