Insider Selling: Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Sells $62,300.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,000 BFST shares for $62,300 at an average price of $31.15, reducing his ownership by 1.15% to 172,073 shares. He also sold 10,000 shares for $317,500 the previous day.
• Business First Bancshares reported quarterly EPS of $0.71, slightly ahead of the $0.70 analyst consensus, while revenue came in at $91.0 million. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing a 1.9% yield.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with five Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $34.50; BFST recently traded near $31.94, close to its 52-week high of $32.39.

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $62,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 172,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,360,073.95. This trade represents a 1.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Joseph Vernon Johnson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 28th, Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 10,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total value of $317,500.00.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ BFST traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $31.94. 307,402 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 204,747. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.37. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.56 and a 1 year high of $32.39. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 0.78.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $91.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.07%. On average, analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 21.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 15,600.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 389.7% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,669 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter worth approximately $123,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.

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