Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) announced its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $93.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.25 million.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Business First Bancshares stock opened at $31.80 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.97. Business First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $23.55 and a 12 month high of $32.53.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In related news, EVP Donald Chad Carter sold 1,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.64, for a total value of $59,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,642 shares in the company, valued at $399,992.88. The trade was a 12.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director George W. Cummings III sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.86, for a total value of $318,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 251,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,002,594.80. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 63,275 shares of company stock worth $2,007,675 in the last quarter. 5.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BFST. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Stephens raised their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.75.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

Business First Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Through its principal banking subsidiary, b1BANK, the company provides financial services to businesses, professionals and individual customers.

b1BANK offers commercial and consumer deposit accounts, commercial and real estate lending, residential mortgage loans, treasury management and other traditional banking services. The bank also provides wealth management and related financial services designed to support business owners, institutions and retail customers.

Business First Bancshares was established in 2006 and has expanded its presence across Louisiana and into Texas.