Business First Bancshares (BFST) Competitors $25.43 -0.23 (-0.90%) As of 01:42 PM Eastern This is a fair market value price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestTrendsBuy This Stock BFST vs. ABCB, BANR, BUSE, FMBH, FRME, OBK, PPBI, STBA, BY, and PFSShould you be buying Business First Bancshares stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Business First Bancshares include Ameris Bancorp (ABCB), Banner (BANR), First Busey (BUSE), First Mid Bancshares (FMBH), First Merchants (FRME), Origin Bancorp (OBK), Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI), S&T Bancorp (STBA), Byline Bancorp (BY), and Provident Financial Services (PFS). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector. Business First Bancshares vs. Its Competitors Ameris Bancorp Banner First Busey First Mid Bancshares First Merchants Origin Bancorp Pacific Premier Bancorp S&T Bancorp Byline Bancorp Provident Financial Services Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership. Do analysts prefer BFST or ABCB? Business First Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $30.50, indicating a potential upside of 19.94%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $71.43, indicating a potential upside of 8.02%. Given Business First Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Business First Bancshares is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Business First Bancshares 0 Sell rating(s) 0 Hold rating(s) 4 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 3.00Ameris Bancorp 0 Sell rating(s) 1 Hold rating(s) 6 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.86 Is BFST or ABCB more profitable? Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Business First Bancshares' net margin of 15.00%. Business First Bancshares' return on equity of 11.49% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Business First Bancshares15.00% 11.49% 1.06% Ameris Bancorp 21.46%9.57%1.32% Which has higher earnings & valuation, BFST or ABCB? Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Business First Bancshares. Business First Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameris Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioBusiness First Bancshares$458.96M1.65$65.11M$2.4310.47Ameris Bancorp$1.12B4.06$358.68M$5.4012.25 Is BFST or ABCB a better dividend stock? Business First Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Business First Bancshares pays out 23.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Business First Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth. Does the media favor BFST or ABCB? In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 3 more articles in the media than Business First Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 3 mentions for Business First Bancshares. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Business First Bancshares' score of 1.20 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Business First Bancshares 1 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 1 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Ameris Bancorp 5 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 1 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Which has more volatility & risk, BFST or ABCB? Business First Bancshares has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in BFST or ABCB? 47.4% of Business First Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.7% of Business First Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. SummaryAmeris Bancorp beats Business First Bancshares on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Business First Bancshares News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for BFST and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding BFST and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart BFST vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricBusiness First BancsharesBANKS IndustryFinance SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$755.61M$863.19M$12.29B$9.52BDividend Yield2.14%3.09%5.53%3.99%P/E Ratio10.4716.9019.0520.01Price / Sales1.652.4226.42102.39Price / Cash10.1848.9821.8458.97Price / Book1.031.112.275.87Net Income$65.11M$54.19M$998.01M$258.50M7 Day Performance-3.27%-0.93%0.75%1.95%1 Month Performance6.05%4.83%4.21%12.31%1 Year Performance0.83%9.82%540.65%19.02% Business First Bancshares Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)BFSTBusiness First Bancshares3.9001 of 5 stars$25.43-0.9%$30.50+19.9%+4.0%$755.61M$458.96M10.47750Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsABCBAmeris Bancorp3.7756 of 5 stars$67.01+0.5%$71.43+6.6%+10.2%$4.62B$1.12B12.862,850Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsBANRBanner2.7989 of 5 stars$65.28-1.0%$70.17+7.5%+8.5%$2.28B$832.99M12.431,956Dividend AnnouncementBUSEFirst Busey4.8991 of 5 stars$24.16+0.1%$27.67+14.5%-14.7%$2.16B$663.36M22.581,548Trending NewsEarnings ReportAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionFMBHFirst Mid Bancshares3.6181 of 5 stars$38.90+0.2%$43.83+12.7%+1.0%$931.49M$453.67M11.581,198News CoveragePositive NewsUpcoming EarningsDividend IncreaseFRMEFirst Merchants4.7234 of 5 stars$41.50+1.5%$46.40+11.8%+0.3%$2.38B$1.07B11.662,120News CoveragePositive NewsEarnings ReportHigh Trading VolumeOBKOrigin Bancorp3.4508 of 5 stars$37.73-0.3%$42.20+11.8%+3.6%$1.18B$358.20M15.341,010News CoveragePositive NewsDividend AnnouncementPPBIPacific Premier Bancorp3.7201 of 5 stars$22.14+0.9%$27.25+23.1%-20.3%$2.13B$905.41M14.571,325News CoveragePositive NewsEarnings ReportSTBAS&T Bancorp3.7978 of 5 stars$38.72-0.6%$42.00+8.5%-12.9%$1.49B$564.96M11.161,206Trending NewsEarnings ReportBYByline Bancorp3.7545 of 5 stars$27.94+0.5%$33.25+19.0%-4.3%$1.28B$624.78M10.351,027News CoverageEarnings ReportPFSProvident Financial Services3.7423 of 5 stars$18.37-0.2%$23.60+28.5%+1.6%$2.40B$1.14B16.551,801News CoverageEarnings ReportAnalyst Forecast Related Companies and Tools Related Companies ABCB Competitors BANR Competitors BUSE Competitors FMBH Competitors FRME Competitors OBK Competitors PPBI Competitors STBA Competitors BY Competitors PFS Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NASDAQ:BFST) was last updated on 7/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersINVESTOR ALERT: Tiny “$3 AI Wonder Stock” on the Verge of Blasting OffRight now, we’re witnessing a monumental shift in the world.Traders Agency | SponsoredYour Bank Account Is No Longer SafeWhat If Washington Declared That: YOUR Money ISN'T Actually Yours? 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