BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 3,883 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,631 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after buying an additional 345,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 194.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 129,677 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 68,506 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,568,000 after purchasing an additional 50,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $802,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $158,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 185,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,891,282.52. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,480 shares of company stock worth $329,972. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ BFST opened at $27.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $820.65 million, a P/E ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $18.97 and a one year high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.14%.

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.