Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 23rd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share on Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 14th.
Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Business First Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 22.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Business First Bancshares to earn $2.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.0%.
Business First Bancshares Price Performance
NASDAQ BFST opened at $22.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.99. Business First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $13.05 and a 1 year high of $25.57. The company has a market cap of $568.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.96.
Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares
In other Business First Bancshares news, Director James J. Buquet III sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.03, for a total value of $799,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 44,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $936,634.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFST. Osaic Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 1,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 93.7% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 631.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 4,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 65.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 5,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.88% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, January 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James lowered shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Business First Bancshares
About Business First Bancshares
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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