DA Davidson Has Strong Forecast for BFST FY2025 Earnings

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) – Research analysts at DA Davidson upped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Business First Bancshares in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 28th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas now expects that the company will earn $3.10 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.70. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares’ current full-year earnings is $2.27 per share.

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BFST. Raymond James upgraded 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, December 19th. Hovde Group upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $27.17 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.61 and its 200-day moving average is $25.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $802.60 million, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.00. Business First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $18.97 and a 52 week high of $30.30. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.14%.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after buying an additional 345,000 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 921.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 295,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,580,000 after purchasing an additional 266,380 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after purchasing an additional 129,677 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after purchasing an additional 50,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,150,000. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.