Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 13,785 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 50.7%, acquiring an additional 13,785 shares, bringing its total ownership to 41,000 shares valued at approximately $998,000.
• Business First Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 23.05%.
• Analysts have varying price targets for the stock, with DA Davidson raising their price target to $32.00 and Raymond James lowering it to $28.00, indicating mixed sentiments regarding the company's performance.

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) by 50.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,000 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,785 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.14% of Business First Bancshares worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on BFST. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial lowered 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. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, CFO Greg Robertson sold 1,086 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total value of $25,759.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,254.20. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John P. Ducrest bought 2,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.62 per share, for a total transaction of $52,554.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $323,971.92. This represents a 19.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 5.68% of the company's stock.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BFST traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.92. 139,908 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 91,774. 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 company has a market cap of $680.49 million, a PE ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 0.85. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.76. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $103.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.94 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.47% and a return on equity of 11.50%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.31%.

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.