Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Price Target Raised to $31.00

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by DA Davidson from $29.00 to $31.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the stock.

BFST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BFST traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $25.88. The company had a trading volume of 17,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 98,396. 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 has a 52 week low of $20.07 and a 52 week high of $30.30. The firm has a market cap of $768.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $24.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.72.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.04. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $79.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $77.54 million. On average, analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is 23.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, CFO Greg Robertson sold 1,086 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total value of $25,759.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,254.20. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFST. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 106.7% in 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 period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

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.