Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 195,800 shares, a decline of 19.8% from the March 15th total of 244,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 49,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Business First Bancshares stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.40. The stock had a trading volume of 28,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,250. The company has a market capitalization of $521.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.49. Business First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $13.05 and a 52 week high of $25.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $101.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.40 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 18.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 21.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 7,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total value of $156,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $543,725.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 1,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 93.7% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 631.7% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 4,226 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 65.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 5,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BFST. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, January 15th. Raymond James cut Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.33.

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.