Farther Finance Advisors LLC Invests $72,000 in Business First Bancshares, Inc. $BFST

Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BFST. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,532.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 159,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,883,000 after buying an additional 149,712 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 13.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 610,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,871,000 after buying an additional 72,328 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,490,000. Gries Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,329,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,150,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BFST. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director John P. Ducrest bought 2,225 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.62 per share, with a total value of $52,554.50. Following the acquisition, the director owned 13,716 shares in the company, valued at $323,971.92. This trade represents a 19.36% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $23.37 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $691.75 million, a P/E ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.86. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.07 and a 1 year high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.13.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $103.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.94 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 15.47%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.31%.

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.