John P. Ducrest Acquires 2,225 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Key Points

• Director John P. Ducrest acquired 2,225 shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. for a total of $52,554.50, increasing his total holdings to 13,716 shares, valued at approximately $323,971.92.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.66 per share, surpassing expectations, with revenues significantly exceeding analyst estimates at $103.01 million.
• Business First Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.4%, with the payment date set for August 31st.

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) Director John P. Ducrest acquired 2,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.62 per share, for a total transaction of $52,554.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $323,971.92. The trade was a 19.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.7%

Business First Bancshares stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.02. 27,618 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 103,528. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $683.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $24.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $103.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $78.94 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.47% and a return on equity of 11.50%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,362,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,618,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,599,000 after purchasing an additional 245,491 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 198,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 27,709 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 607,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,624,000 after purchasing an additional 46,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BFST has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial 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. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th.

About Business First Bancshares

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.