Banc Funds Co. LLC Sells 25,509 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Banc Funds Co. LLC decreased its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 462,494 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,509 shares during the period. Banc Funds Co. LLC owned about 1.57% of Business First Bancshares worth $11,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 9.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 33,870 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 68,506 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $476,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $579,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group lowered Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $105,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. This trade represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 three months, insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock valued at $366,992. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $28.50 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $841.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.99. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30.

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

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.14%.

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.