Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Upgraded by Raymond James to “Outperform” Rating

Raymond James upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $30.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, Hovde Group lowered shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $25.82 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.45 and a 200-day moving average of $24.60. Business First Bancshares has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $762.75 million, a PE ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.98.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 2.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $105,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. This represents a 1.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 9.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 33,870 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,115,000 after buying an additional 68,506 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 129,677 shares during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $579,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services.