Hovde Group Increases Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Price Target to $30.00

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) had its price target boosted by Hovde Group from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Hovde Group currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ BFST opened at $25.41 on Friday. Business First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $17.88 and a 12 month high of $26.68. The company has a market capitalization of $647.96 million, a P/E ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 15.90%. The company had revenue of $112.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, August 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $106,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 75.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.