MGB Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 32,733 Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

MGB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $841,000. MGB Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Business First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $333,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 26.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 3,083 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $476,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BFST shares. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BFST opened at $27.41 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.77. The stock has a market cap of $809.69 million, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.00. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.78%.

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.