Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 216,200 shares, a growth of 45.2% from the October 31st total of 148,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 85,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This represents a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after purchasing an additional 50,955 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 523,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,441,000 after buying an additional 24,992 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after buying an additional 68,506 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 9.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,862,000 after buying an additional 33,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% during the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 345,000 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ BFST traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $28.50. 63,535 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 66,287. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Business First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week high of $30.30. The company has a market capitalization of $841.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

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.