Nuveen Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,270 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Business First Bancshares worth $2,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $111,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of BFST stock opened at $23.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $697.83 million, a PE ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.81. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week high of $30.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.41 and its 200 day moving average is $25.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $79.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.54 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Robertson sold 1,086 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total value of $25,759.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,254.20. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.68% 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.