Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) COO Sells $134,736.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: COO Keith Mansfield sold 4,200 BFST shares for $134,736 at an average price of $32.08, reducing his holdings by 5.16% to 77,139 shares.
• Financial performance: Business First Bancshares reported quarterly EPS of $0.71, slightly exceeding the $0.70 analyst consensus, while revenue reached $91.81 million versus estimates of $91.31 million.
• Investor outlook: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, and analysts maintained a consensus “Buy” rating with a $34.50 price target; shares recently traded near $31.82.

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) COO Keith Mansfield sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total value of $134,736.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,139 shares in the company, valued at $2,474,619.12. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Business First Bancshares stock traded down $0.12 on Friday, reaching $31.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 232,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,075. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.41. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.56 and a 52-week high of $32.39.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.07%.The firm had revenue of $91.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.31 million. Analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on BFST shares. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the first quarter worth $1,608,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 0.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 989,686 shares of the company's stock worth $26,761,000 after acquiring an additional 3,540 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 121,404 shares of the company's stock worth $3,283,000 after acquiring an additional 3,997 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 63.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 18,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 6,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FreeGulliver LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $812,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company's stock.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Business First Bank, a regional community bank headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company provides a full suite of commercial and retail banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and individual consumers. Business First Bancshares operates under a community-focused model, emphasizing personalized service, local decision-making and relationship banking.

The company’s primary business activities include commercial lending, treasury and cash management, and deposit services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.