Business First Bancshares (BFST) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Business First Bancshares logo
$30.09 -0.06 (-0.20%)
Closing price 06/25/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
Extended Trading
$30.08 0.00 (-0.02%)
As of 06/25/2026 04:10 PM Eastern
Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Massive. Learn more.

About Business First Bancshares Stock (NASDAQ:BFST)

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Key Stats

Today's Range
$29.96
$30.43
50-Day Range
$26.84
$30.15
52-Week Range
$22.56
$30.43
Volume
245,389 shs
Average Volume
244,748 shs
Market Capitalization
$983.34 million
P/E Ratio
10.67
Dividend Yield
1.99%
Price Target
$32.33
Consensus Rating
Buy

Company Overview

Business First Bancshares Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

See Top-Rated MarketRank™ Stocks
63rd Percentile Overall Score

BFST MarketRank™: 

Business First Bancshares scored higher than 63% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 277th out of 874 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

  • Consensus Rating

    Business First Bancshares has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 3.00, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 4 buy ratings, no hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

  • Upside/Downside

    The consensus price target for Business First Bancshares is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

  • Amount of Analyst Coverage

    Business First Bancshares has only been the subject of 1 research reports in the past 90 days.

  • Read more about Business First Bancshares' stock forecast and price target.
  • Earnings Growth

    Earnings for Business First Bancshares are expected to grow by 7.92% in the coming year, from $3.03 to $3.27 per share.

  • Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

    The P/E ratio of Business First Bancshares is 10.67, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 45.83.

  • Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

    The P/E ratio of Business First Bancshares is 10.67, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 20.27.

  • Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

    Business First Bancshares has a P/B Ratio of 1.08. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

  • Read more about Business First Bancshares' valuation and earnings.
  • Percentage of Shares Shorted

    2.01% of the float of Business First Bancshares has been sold short.
  • Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

    Business First Bancshares has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.1, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.
  • Change versus previous month

    Short interest in Business First Bancshares has recently increased by 4.06%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.
  • Dividend Yield

    Business First Bancshares pays a meaningful dividend of 1.99%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

  • Dividend Growth

    Business First Bancshares has only been increasing its dividend for 2 years.

  • Dividend Coverage

    The dividend payout ratio of Business First Bancshares is 21.28%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

  • Dividend Sustainability

    Based on earnings estimates, Business First Bancshares will have a dividend payout ratio of 18.35% next year. This indicates that Business First Bancshares will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

  • Read more about Business First Bancshares' dividend.
  • News Coverage This Week

    MarketBeat has tracked 1 news article for Business First Bancshares this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.
  • Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

    In the past three months, Business First Bancshares insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $1,031,732.00 in company stock.

  • Percentage Held by Insiders

    5.67% of the stock of Business First Bancshares is held by insiders.

  • Percentage Held by Institutions

    47.35% of the stock of Business First Bancshares is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

  • Read more about Business First Bancshares' insider trading history.
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BFST Stock News Headlines

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BFST Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

Business First Bancshares' stock was trading at $26.14 at the beginning of 2026. Since then, BFST shares have increased by 15.1% and is now trading at $30.09.

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April, 27th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. The firm earned $89.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.99 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.02% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 11.10%.
Read the conference call transcript
.

Business First Bancshares' Board of Directors initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th 2025, which permits the company to repurchase $30,000,000 in shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could reacquire up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Business First Bancshares' top institutional shareholders include Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (3.57%), Janus Henderson Group PLC (3.03%), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.35%) and The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (1.33%). Insiders that own company stock include George W Cummings III, Rick D Day, Joseph Vernon Johnson, Rolfe H Jr Mccollister, Greg Robertson, Mark P Folse, James J Buquet III, Jesse Jackson, Warren Mcdonald, Donald Chad Carter, John P Ducrest and Saundra Strong.
View institutional ownership trends
.

Shares of BFST stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Business First Bancshares investors own include NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Netflix (NFLX) and ServiceNow (NOW).

Company Calendar

Last Earnings
4/27/2026
Record date for 5/29 Dividend
5/15/2026
Ex-Dividend for 5/29 Dividend
5/15/2026
Dividend Payable
5/29/2026
Today
6/26/2026
Next Earnings (Estimated)
7/27/2026
Fiscal Year End
12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

Stock Exchange
NASDAQ
Sector
Finance
Industry
BANKS - NORTHEAST
Sub-Industry
Banking
Current Symbol
NASDAQ:BFST
CIK
1624322
Employees
750
Year Founded
N/A

Price Target and Rating

High Price Target
$33.00
Low Price Target
$31.00
Potential Upside/Downside
+7.5%
Consensus Rating
Buy
Rating Score (0-4)
3.00
Research Coverage
4 Analysts

Profitability

EPS (Trailing Twelve Months)
$2.82
Trailing P/E Ratio
10.67
Forward P/E Ratio
9.93
P/E Growth
N/A
Net Income
$87.86 million
Net Margins
17.02%
Pretax Margin
21.66%
Return on Equity
11.10%
Return on Assets
1.12%

Debt

Debt-to-Equity Ratio
0.39
Current Ratio
0.98
Quick Ratio
0.98

Sales & Book Value

Annual Sales
$516.55 million
Price / Sales
1.90
Cash Flow
$3.14 per share
Price / Cash Flow
9.59
Book Value
$27.86 per share
Price / Book
1.08

Miscellaneous

Outstanding Shares
32,680,000
Free Float
30,825,000
Market Cap
$983.34 million
Optionable
Optionable
Beta
0.79
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This page (NASDAQ:BFST) was last updated on 6/26/2026 by MarketBeat.com Staff.
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