Business First Bancshares, Inc. (BFST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.14 on November 30th

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share on Saturday, November 30th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th.

Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. Business First Bancshares has a payout ratio of 21.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Business First Bancshares to earn $2.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.4%.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $29.54 on Wednesday. Business First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $30.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.64 and its 200 day moving average is $23.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $872.61 million, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $158,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 185,557 shares in the company, valued at $4,891,282.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

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.