Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Stock Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,803 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.16% of Business First Bancshares worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,862,000 after acquiring an additional 33,870 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the second 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 last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $476,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,264.60. The trade was a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total value of $105,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. This represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST stock opened at $28.50 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $841.92 million, a PE ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.14%.

Business First Bancshares 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.