Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 13,850 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,353 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,850 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.12% of Business First Bancshares worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Americana Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $317,000. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $466,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BFST. Raymond James upgraded shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group raised 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 research report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 264,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BFST opened at $24.40 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $26.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.27. The stock has a market cap of $721.07 million, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.97 and a twelve month high of $30.30.

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 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.78%.

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.