Business First Bancshares, Inc. (BFST) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 14th

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th.

Business First Bancshares has raised its dividend by an average of 6.8% annually over the last three years. Business First Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 18.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Business First Bancshares to earn $2.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.9%.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $27.93 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $26.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.76. The company has a market capitalization of $825.05 million, a P/E ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.00.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Analysts expect that Business First Bancshares will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BFST. Hovde Group raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

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.