UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Cuts Stock Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC trimmed its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,362 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,729 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.05% of Business First Bancshares worth $394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 33,870 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after buying an additional 68,506 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after buying an additional 129,677 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter worth $476,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $579,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on BFST shares. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $158,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 185,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,891,282.52. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 0.4 %

BFST stock opened at $25.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $766.00 million, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.29 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.14%.

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.