Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Short Interest Up 7.2% in June

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) saw a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 164,600 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the May 31st total of 153,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 47,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ BFST opened at $21.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $541.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 0.98. Business First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $14.39 and a twelve month high of $25.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $20.88 and its 200 day moving average is $21.85.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $60.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.93 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 17.08% and a return on equity of 12.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Business First Bancshares will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 22.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.30 per share, with a total value of $36,540.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 262,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,334,535.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.6% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

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.