SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 4,107 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,107 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883 shares during the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $405,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on BFST shares. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $27.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $810.87 million, a PE ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.68. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.97 and a 1 year high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. On average, equities analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 24.78%.

Business First Bancshares 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.