Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Rating) – DA Davidson dropped their FY2023 earnings per share estimates for shares of Business First Bancshares in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, September 7th. DA Davidson analyst K. Fitzsimmons now forecasts that the company will earn $2.81 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $3.01. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares' current full-year earnings is $2.48 per share.
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Separately, Raymond James cut their price objective 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 Performance
NASDAQ:BFST opened at $22.68 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $22.89 and its 200 day moving average is $23.03. Business First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $20.19 and a fifty-two week high of $29.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $512.09 million, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.
Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $56.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.11 million.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFST. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $11,801,000. Kennedy Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $3,942,000. RMB Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $3,729,000. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,653.9% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 170,128 shares of the company's stock worth $3,625,000 after buying an additional 160,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 159.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,427 shares of the company's stock worth $7,317,000 after buying an additional 158,739 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.70% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares
In other Business First Bancshares news, Director John P. Ducrest acquired 1,712 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.39 per share, with a total value of $40,043.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $195,259.72. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 15th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 12th. Business First Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.75%.
Business First Bancshares Company Profile
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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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