Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 158.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,792 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,663 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.16% of Business First Bancshares worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 109,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $116,000. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 5.1% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 49,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BFST shares. Hovde Group downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $25.71 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.88. The stock has a market cap of $759.50 million, a P/E ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.98. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. 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 (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 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 business had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. The trade was a 1.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972 in the last quarter. 6.45% of the stock is currently 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.