Rick D. Day Buys 1,800 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Stock

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Director Rick D. Day purchased 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.30 per share, for a total transaction of $36,540.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 262,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,334,535.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 1.0 %

BFST stock opened at $20.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $533.79 million, a PE ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 0.95. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.05 and a 12 month high of $25.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.70.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.8% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 62,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares during the period. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $713,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 53,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Business First Bancshares by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 59,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 21,615 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BFST. Raymond James cut shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, January 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.33.

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.