E&G Advisors LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

E&G Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 41.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,100 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,200 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP owned approximately 0.05% of Business First Bancshares worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 12,527.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,430 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,387 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $496,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $94,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 16,615 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $128,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In related news, CFO Greg Robertson sold 1,086 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total transaction of $25,759.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,254.20. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $24.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $713.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $23.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.85. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.06 and a 52-week high of $30.30.

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

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target 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. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th.

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.

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