LSV Asset Management Has $1.08 Million Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,570 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.19% of Business First Bancshares worth $1,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $326,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $225,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $216,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 494,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,183,000 after acquiring an additional 3,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 333,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,231,000 after acquiring an additional 17,095 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $141,468.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $141,468.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total value of $39,387.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,497.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,406 shares of company stock worth $340,372. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BFST opened at $24.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.96. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.88 and a 1 year high of $26.68. The company has a market capitalization of $633.98 million, a P/E ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $112.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.16 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 22.05%.

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.