Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Rating) – DA Davidson cut their FY2022 earnings per share estimates for Business First Bancshares in a report issued on Wednesday, September 7th. DA Davidson analyst K. Fitzsimmons now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $2.43 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $2.48. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares' current full-year earnings is $2.48 per share.

Separately, Raymond James decreased their target price on Business First Bancshares from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 7th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 2.4 %

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 21.55%. The firm had revenue of $56.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.11 million.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 60.0% in the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $56,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $122,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $174,000. 33.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John P. Ducrest acquired 1,712 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.39 per share, for a total transaction of $40,043.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $195,259.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 12th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Business First Bancshares's payout ratio is 22.75%.

About Business First Bancshares

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Business First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services. 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.

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