Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Acquires New Shares in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 35,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $921,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned 0.12% of Business First Bancshares as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 158.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,792 shares of the company's stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 28,663 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 171,115 shares of the company's stock worth $4,365,000 after purchasing an additional 34,602 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 407,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,468,000 after purchasing an additional 27,023 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $466,000. Finally, E&G Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $702,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Hovde Group upgraded Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at $6,728,696.10. This represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.2 %

BFST stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.47. 73,023 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 89,689. The stock has a market capitalization of $693.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.81. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.78. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $79.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $77.54 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. On average, analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is 23.05%.

Business First Bancshares 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.