George Cummings III Sells 11,595 Shares of Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 11,595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total value of $323,732.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 296,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,269,345.60. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Business First Bancshares stock opened at $28.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.29. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.51 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $930.73 million, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.79.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 17.02%.The firm had revenue of $89.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.99 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.28%.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 15,600.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $30,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 389.7% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BFST shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Stephens set a $33.00 price objective on Business First Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.33.

About Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Business First Bank, a regional community bank headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company provides a full suite of commercial and retail banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals and individual consumers. Business First Bancshares operates under a community-focused model, emphasizing personalized service, local decision-making and relationship banking.

The company’s primary business activities include commercial lending, treasury and cash management, and deposit services.