Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $5.04 Million Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 194.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,238 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 129,677 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.66% of Business First Bancshares worth $5,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in 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. ELCO Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. ClariVest Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 41,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 49,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $28.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $835.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.98. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $27.11 and its 200-day moving average is $24.37. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.97 and a 1 year high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 12,480 shares of company stock worth $329,972 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.