Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Cut to Market Perform at Hovde Group

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

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Business First Bancshares stock opened at $28.20 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.39. Business First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $833.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 24.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $158,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 185,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,891,282.52. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This trade represents a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock valued at $366,992. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 68,506 shares during the period. Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $476,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.