Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Upgraded by Raymond James to Outperform Rating

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $30.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.70% from the stock’s current price.

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

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 0.4 %

BFST stock opened at $25.93 on Thursday. Business First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week high of $30.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $766.00 million, a P/E ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.63.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. The company had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares will post 2.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972 over the last quarter. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 109,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $106,000. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 121,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,975 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $802,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.