EntryPoint Capital LLC Takes Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,618,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,599,000 after acquiring an additional 245,491 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $111,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 538,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,837,000 after purchasing an additional 88,546 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $294,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 3.5 %

BFST stock opened at $24.48 on Friday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month 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 company has a market cap of $723.43 million, a PE ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.26.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

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.