Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 4,000 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 29.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 68,506 shares during the period. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.3% in the second quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.6% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.0% in the second quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at $4,819,890.81. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This trade represents a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock valued at $366,992. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group lowered shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

BFST stock opened at $28.20 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.02 and a 200-day moving average of $23.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $833.03 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

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.