Joseph Vernon Johnson Sells 6,000 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $158,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 185,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,891,282.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Joseph Vernon Johnson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 4th, Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00.
• On Tuesday, October 29th, Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of Business First Bancshares stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $105,987.40.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $29.56 on Thursday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $29.68. The stock has a market cap of $873.20 million, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.09.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group raised their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFST. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 75.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 66,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 201,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 11,506 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 2,249.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 22,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 21,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

About Business First Bancshares

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.