Martingale Asset Management L P Increases Stock Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 65.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,144 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,088 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.13% of Business First Bancshares worth $980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $111,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day acquired 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. The trade was a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ BFST traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.73. 101,440 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 86,082. The business's 50 day moving average is $24.69 and its 200-day moving average is $25.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $671.72 million, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Hovde Group raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James raised shares of 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 note 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.