Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 52,979 Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 52,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,362,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.18% of Business First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 133,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,438,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 16,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Rick D. Day acquired 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. The trade was a 0.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.45% of the company's stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:BFST traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.47. 73,023 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 89,514. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $30.30. The stock has a market cap of $693.91 million, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.70 and a 200 day moving average of $25.78.

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 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The business had revenue of $79.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.54 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BFST shares. Stephens decreased their target price on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James dropped 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, Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

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.