BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 7,599 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 88.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,230 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,599 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.05% of Business First Bancshares worth $417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,618,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,599,000 after purchasing an additional 245,491 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,512,000 after purchasing an additional 83,664 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 607,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,624,000 after acquiring an additional 46,492 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,837,000 after purchasing an additional 88,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banc Funds Co. LLC grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 478,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,297,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens cut their target price on Business First Bancshares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $23.59 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $700.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 0.81. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.58. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.04. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $79.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.54 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.68% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Company 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.