Royce & Associates LP Grows Stock Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 9.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 384,200 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 33,870 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.30% of Business First Bancshares worth $9,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $116,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $227,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 75.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of BFST opened at $28.20 on Friday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $833.06 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.45.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group lowered Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This trade represents a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $158,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 185,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,891,282.52. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Profile

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.