Business First Bancshares (BFST) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) is set to announce its earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, October 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.56 per share for the quarter. Investors interested in listening to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $112.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.16 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 12.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts expect Business First Bancshares to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $26.28 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $670.19 million, a PE ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Business First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $17.90 and a 52-week high of $26.85.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $39,387.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $529,497.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $141,468.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at $5,415,000.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $39,387.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,497.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,906 shares of company stock worth $377,392. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

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.