American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 418,869 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,506 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.64% of Business First Bancshares worth $9,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 75.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $25.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.88 and a 12 month high of $26.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.13. The company has a market cap of $655.40 million, a P/E ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group upped their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 available at the SEC website. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,906 shares of company stock worth $377,392. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.