Q1 Earnings Forecast for BFST Issued By DA Davidson

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) – Research analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Business First Bancshares in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, January 28th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas anticipates that the company will post earnings of $0.63 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares’ current full-year earnings is $2.27 per share.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 0.5 %

BFST opened at $27.42 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $809.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.57. Business First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $30.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,568,000 after purchasing an additional 50,955 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 6.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 53,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 3,385 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $333,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% during the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,051,000 after buying an additional 345,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,819,890.81. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. 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.