Business First Bancshares, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.14 (NASDAQ:BFST)

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share on Saturday, November 30th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th.

Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. Business First Bancshares has a payout ratio of 21.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Business First Bancshares to earn $2.62 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 21.4%.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Business First Bancshares stock opened at $28.58 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $844.25 million, a PE ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.97. Business First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $18.97 and a 12-month high of $30.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.32.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Business First Bancshares will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group cut Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $158,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,891,282.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,264.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,980 shares of company stock valued at $366,992 over the last quarter. 6.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Business First Bancshares Company Profile

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.