Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director George Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.86, for a total value of $318,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 251,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,002,594.80. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ BFST opened at $31.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.41. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.56 and a 52-week high of $32.39.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $91.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.31 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 17.07%. On average, research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $32.50 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $579,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $1,636,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $1,282,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 823,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,523,000 after acquiring an additional 175,284 shares during the period. Finally, FreeGulliver LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $812,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.