Fourthstone LLC Acquires New Stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 44,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,000. Fourthstone LLC owned about 0.15% of Business First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,568,000 after purchasing an additional 50,955 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,115,000 after acquiring an additional 68,506 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 9.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,862,000 after acquiring an additional 33,870 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% during the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 345,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 129,677 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.4 %

Business First Bancshares stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $28.72. 88,440 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 66,299. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $848.39 million, a PE ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.87. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.14%.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,819,890.81. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. This represents a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,980 shares of company stock valued at $366,992. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group cut Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

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.