Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,500 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Business First Bancshares worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $432,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $405,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $227,000. Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $476,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 26.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 3,083 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Business First Bancshares stock opened at $28.72 on Friday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week high of $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $848.42 million, a PE ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.90.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This represents a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $105,987.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 203,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,940.51. This trade represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 in the last 90 days. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.