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.
View BFST analyst ratings or view top-rated stocks.

3 Wall Street analysts have issued twelve-month price targets for Business First Bancshares' stock. Their BFST share price forecasts range from $27.00 to $30.00. On average, they expect the company's share price to reach $28.33 in the next twelve months. This suggests a possible upside of 64.1% from the stock's current price.
View analysts price targets for BFST or view top-rated stocks among Wall Street analysts.

Business First Bancshares' stock was trading at $22.14 at the beginning of the year. Since then, BFST shares have decreased by 22.0% and is now trading at $17.27.
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Business First Bancshares saw a increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totaling 277,500 shares, an increase of 13.8% from the February 28th total of 243,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 99,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.
View Business First Bancshares' Short Interest.

The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Tuesday, April 25th 2023.
View our BFST earnings forecast.

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January, 25th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.95 million. Business First Bancshares had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 12.77% and a net margin of 20.44%.

Business First Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share on Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 14th.
Read our dividend analysis for BFST.

ETFs with the largest weight of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) stock in their portfolio include AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Micro-Cap ETF (DWMC), First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund (QABA), Janus Henderson Small Cap Growth Alpha ETF (JSML) and Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF (DFSV),

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.84%. The dividend payout ratio is 20.87%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, BFST will have a dividend payout ratio of 18.75% 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 institutional and retail investors. Top institutional shareholders include The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (2.76%), Banc Funds Co. LLC (1.90%), Geode Capital Management LLC (1.76%), Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC (1.55%), Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (1.30%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (1.06%). Insiders that own company stock include Alicia Robertson, Andrew D Mclindon, Carol Calkins, Donald A Hingle II, Drew C Brees, James J Buquet III, John P Ducrest, Keith Alexis Tillage, Mark P Folse, Rick D Day, Robert S Jr Greer, Steven Gerard White and Warren Mcdonald.
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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 $17.27.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) has a market capitalization of $433.65 million and generates $265.42 million in revenue each year. The company earns $54.26 million in net income (profit) each year or $2.30 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.