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

3 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Business First Bancshares in the last year. There are currently 1 hold rating and 2 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "buy" BFST shares.
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3 Wall Street analysts have issued 12-month price targets for Business First Bancshares' shares. Their BFST share price forecasts range from $19.00 to $30.00. On average, they expect the company's share price to reach $25.67 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 61.7% from the stock's current price.
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Business First Bancshares' stock was trading at $22.14 at the beginning of 2023. Since then, BFST stock has decreased by 28.3% and is now trading at $15.87.
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The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Tuesday, July 25th 2023.
View our BFST earnings forecast.

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April, 27th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $61.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $61.34 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 19.96% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 13.32%.

Business First Bancshares declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share on Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th.
Read our dividend analysis for BFST.

ETFs with the largest weight of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) stock in their portfolio include SPDR SSGA US Small Cap Low Volatility Index ETF (SMLV), First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund (QABA), Janus Henderson Small Cap Growth Alpha ETF (JSML).

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.98%. The dividend payout ratio is 19.75%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, BFST will have a dividend payout ratio of 22.12% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for BFST.

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Business First Bancshares investors own include AbbVie (ABBV), British American Tobacco (BTI), Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), Brinker International (EAT), Eastman Chemical (EMN), Enbridge (ENB), Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) and Harley-Davidson (HOG).

Business First Bancshares trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "BFST."

Business First Bancshares' stock is owned by a variety of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional investors include BlackRock Inc. (8.18%), Geode Capital Management LLC (1.81%), State Street Corp (1.80%), Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (1.73%), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (1.45%) and Ranger Investment Management L.P. (1.21%). Insiders that own company stock include Alicia Robertson, Andrew D Mclindon, Carol Calkins, Donald A Hingle II, Drew C Brees, Edgar R Smith III, Greg Robertson, James J Buquet III, John P Ducrest, Kathryn Manning, Keith Alexis Tillage, Kenneth W Smith, Mark P Folse, Rick D Day, Robert S Jr Greer, Steven Gerard White, Warren Mcdonald and William K Hood.
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Shares of BFST stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include WeBull, Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.
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One share of BFST stock can currently be purchased for approximately $15.87.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) has a market capitalization of $401.83 million and generates $265.42 million in revenue each year. The company earns $54.26 million in net income (profit) each year or $2.43 on an earnings per share basis.

The company employs 648 workers across the globe.

Business First Bancshares' mailing address is 500 LAUREL STREET SUITE 101, BATON ROUGE LA, 70801. The official website for the company is www.b1bank.com. The company can be reached via phone at (225) 248-7600 or via fax at 225-248-7650.