NASDAQ:BFSTBusiness First Bancshares Stock Price, Forecast & News

$15.65

+1.46 (+10.29 %)

(As of 06/3/2020 04:00 PM ET)

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Today's Range

$14.15

Now: $15.65▼

$16.35

50-Day Range

$11.12

MA: $12.69▼

$15.20

52-Week Range

$9.17

Now: $15.65▼

$26.64

Volume77,028 shs

Average Volume43,691 shs

Market Capitalization$323.44 million

P/E Ratio9.43

Dividend Yield2.82%

Beta0.97

Business First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Business First Bank that provides various banking products and services. It offers various deposit products and services, including a range of checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and remote deposit capture and direct deposit services. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans, including commercial lines of credit, working capital loans, term loans, equipment financing, asset acquisition, expansion and development loans, borrowing base loans, letters of credit, and other loan products; construction and development loans; commercial real estate loans; residential real estate loans comprising first and second lien one-to-four family mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit; consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment and term loans; and credit cards. In addition, it offers wealth management products, including mutual funds, annuities, individual retirement accounts, and other financial products. Further, the company provides a range of other financial services comprising drive-through banking facilities, automated teller machines, and employee and payroll benefits solutions; and night depository, personalized checks, treasury and cash management, merchant, automated clearing house, electronic funds transfer, domestic and foreign wire transfer, traveler's checks, vault, loan and deposit sweep accounts, lock-box, international trade finance, international trade, foreign exchange, online and mobile banking, e-statements, and bank-by-mail services. The company operates through 25 banking centers located in the State of Louisiana and in Dallas, Texas. Business First Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Beat the Market (BTM) Rank^™

3.2 Analyst's Opinion

Consensus Rating
Business First Bancshares has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on 1 buy rating, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.
Price Target Upside/Downside
According to analysts' consensus price target of $25.33, Business First Bancshares has a potential upside of 61.9% from its current price of $15.65.
Amount of Analyst Coverage
Business First Bancshares has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

2.2 Community Rank

Outperform Votes
Business First Bancshares has received 105 “outperform” votes. (Add your “outperform” vote.)
Underperform Votes
Business First Bancshares has received 139 “underperform” votes. (Add your “underperform” vote.)
Community Sentiment
Business First Bancshares has received 56.97% “underperform” votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Business First Bancshares and other stocks. Vote “Outperform” if you believe BFST will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote “Underperform” if you believe BFST will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

3.3 Dividend Strength

Dividend Leadership
Business First Bancshares is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 2.82%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.
Dividend Growth
Business First Bancshares has only been increasing its dividend for 1 years.
Dividend Coverage
The dividend payout ratio of Business First Bancshares is 22.22 %. 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 22.73 % next year. This indicates that Business First Bancshares will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

3.0 Company Ownership

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling
In the past three months, Business First Bancshares insiders have bought more of their company's stock than they have sold. Specifically, they have bought $39,130.00 in company stock and sold $0.00 in company stock.
Percentage Held by Insiders
Only 7.43% of the stock of Business First Bancshares is held by insiders.
Percentage Held by Institutions
Only 27.00% of the stock of Business First Bancshares is held by institutions.

2.5 Earnings and Valuation

Earnings Growth
Earnings for Business First Bancshares are expected to grow by 2.33% in the coming year, from $1.72 to $1.76 per share.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market
The P/E ratio of Business First Bancshares is 9.43, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 16.10.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector
The P/E ratio of Business First Bancshares is 9.43, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 19.59.
Price to Book Value per Share Ratio
Business First Bancshares has a P/B Ratio of 0.73. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Overall Beat the Market Rank^™

2.84 out of 5 stars

Industry, Sector and Symbol

Stock Exchange NASDAQ

Industry State commercial banks

Sub-IndustryN/A

SectorFinance

Current SymbolNASDAQ:BFST

Previous Symbol

CUSIPN/A

CIKN/A

Webwww.b1bank.com

Phone225-248-7600

Debt

Debt-to-Equity Ratio0.58

Current Ratio1.03

Quick Ratio1.03

Price-To-Earnings

Trailing P/E Ratio9.43

Forward P/E Ratio9.10

P/E GrowthN/A

Sales & Book Value

Annual Sales$114.18 million

Price / Sales2.83

Cash Flow$2.13 per share

Price / Cash Flow7.36

Book Value$21.47 per share

Price / Book0.73

Profitability

EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year)$1.80

Net Income$23.77 million

Net Margins19.48%

Return on Equity8.52%

Return on Assets1.07%

Miscellaneous

Employees333

Outstanding Shares20,667,000

Market Cap$323.44 million

Next Earnings Date7/22/2020 (Estimated)

OptionableNot Optionable

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Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Frequently Asked Questions

How has Business First Bancshares' stock been impacted by COVID-19 (Coronavirus)?

Business First Bancshares' stock was trading at $17.47 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, BFST stock has decreased by 10.4% and is now trading at $15.65. View which stocks have been most impacted by Coronavirus.

Do Wall Street analysts recommend investors buy shares of Business First Bancshares?

3 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Business First Bancshares in the last year. There are currently 2 hold ratings and 1 buy rating for the stock, resulting in a consensus recommendation of "Hold." View analyst ratings for Business First Bancshares.

When is Business First Bancshares' next earnings date?

Business First Bancshares is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Wednesday, July 22nd 2020. View our earnings forecast for Business First Bancshares.

How were Business First Bancshares' earnings last quarter?

Business First Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:BFST) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April, 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. The company earned $23.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.68 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 19.48%. View Business First Bancshares' earnings history.

How often does Business First Bancshares pay dividends? What is the dividend yield for Business First Bancshares?

Business First Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share on Sunday, May 31st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. View Business First Bancshares' dividend history.

What price target have analysts set for BFST?

3 equities research analysts have issued twelve-month price targets for Business First Bancshares' stock. Their forecasts range from $15.00 to $31.00. On average, they anticipate Business First Bancshares' share price to reach $25.33 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 61.9% from the stock's current price. View analysts' price targets for Business First Bancshares.

Has Business First Bancshares been receiving favorable news coverage?

News articles about BFST stock have been trending very negative recently, according to InfoTrie Sentiment. The research firm identifies negative and positive news coverage by monitoring more than six thousand blog and news sources in real time. The firm ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -5 to 5, with scores closest to five being the most favorable. Business First Bancshares earned a media sentiment score of -3.1 on InfoTrie's scale. They also gave media stories about the company a news buzz of 10.0 out of 10, meaning that recent news coverage is extremely likely to have an impact on the company's share price in the near future. View the latest news aboutBusiness First Bancshares.

Are investors shorting Business First Bancshares?

Business First Bancshares saw a increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 48,100 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the April 30th total of 43,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 48,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company's stock are short sold. View Business First Bancshares' Current Options Chain.

Who are some of Business First Bancshares' key competitors?

Some companies that are related to Business First Bancshares include Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (SBCF), Lakeland Financial (LKFN), Eagle Bancorp (EGBN), First Busey (BUSE), Southside Bancshares (SBSI), Veritex (VBTX), S & T Bancorp (STBA), 1st Source (SRCE), Oritani Financial (ORIT), TriCo Bancshares (TCBK), Carolina Financial (CARO), German American Bancorp. (GABC), Great Western Bancorp (GWB), Enterprise Financial Services (EFSC) and Stock Yards Bancorp (SYBT). View all competitors.

What other stocks do shareholders of Business First Bancshares own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Business First Bancshares investors own include AbbVie (ABBV), Comcast (CMCSA), Brinker International (EAT), Eastman Chemical (EMN), Enbridge (ENB), Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), Harley-Davidson (HOG), JD.Com (JD), Marathon Petroleum (MPC) and Netflix (NFLX).

Who are Business First Bancshares' key executives?

Business First Bancshares' management team includes the following people:

Mr. David R. Melville III, Pres, CEO & Director (Age 44)
Mr. Gregory Robertson, CFO & Treasurer (Age 47)
Heather Roemer, Sr. VP Director, HR & Talent Devel.
Rodney Poncho Seaford, Regional Pres

What is Business First Bancshares' stock symbol?

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

Who are Business First Bancshares' major shareholders?

Business First Bancshares' stock is owned by a number of institutional and retail investors. Top institutional shareholders include BlackRock Inc. (5.25%), RMB Capital Management LLC (3.18%), State Street Corp (1.61%), Geode Capital Management LLC (1.35%), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (0.64%) and Alliancebernstein L.P. (0.46%). Company insiders that own Business First Bancshares stock include Alicia Robertson, Andrew D Mclindon, Donald A Hingle II, Greg Robertson, Keith Mansfield, Norman Jerome Sr Vascocu Sr, Robert S Jr Greer and Steven Gerard White. View institutional ownership trends for Business First Bancshares.

Which major investors are selling Business First Bancshares stock?

BFST stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including RMB Capital Management LLC, Alliancebernstein L.P., Morgan Stanley, UBS Group AG, First Trust Advisors LP, Financial Management Professionals Inc., and Russell Investments Group Ltd.. View insider buying and selling activity for Business First Bancshares.

Which major investors are buying Business First Bancshares stock?

BFST stock was acquired by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., John W. Rosenthal Capital Management Inc., Invesco Ltd., Rodgers Brothers Inc., Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc., BlackRock Inc., Geode Capital Management LLC, and Wedge Capital Management L L P NC. Company insiders that have bought Business First Bancshares stock in the last two years include Alicia Robertson, Andrew D Mclindon, Greg Robertson, Keith Mansfield, Robert S Jr Greer, and Steven Gerard White. View insider buying and selling activity for Business First Bancshares.

How do I buy shares of Business First Bancshares?

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

What is Business First Bancshares' stock price today?

One share of BFST stock can currently be purchased for approximately $15.65.

How big of a company is Business First Bancshares?

Business First Bancshares has a market capitalization of $323.44 million and generates $114.18 million in revenue each year. The company earns $23.77 million in net income (profit) each year or $1.80 on an earnings per share basis. Business First Bancshares employs 333 workers across the globe.

What is Business First Bancshares' official website?

The official website for Business First Bancshares is www.b1bank.com.

How can I contact Business First Bancshares?

Business First Bancshares' mailing address is 500 LAUREL STREET SUITE 101, BATON ROUGE LA, 70801. The company can be reached via phone at 225-248-7600.

This page was last updated on 6/3/2020 by MarketBeat.com Staff