2 weeks Ago By ABMN Staff
Business First Bancshares, Inc. ( NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 255,700 shares, a growth of 74.
8% from the July 31st total of 146,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 70,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.
Business First Bancshares Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $24.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $622.
76 million, a PE ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 0.98.
Business First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $17.88 and a fifty-two week high of $26.68.
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.
98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.84 and a 200-day moving average of $21.
81. Business First Bancshares ( NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.
64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13.
The company had revenue of $112.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.16 million.
Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%.
During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares will post 2.
07 earnings per share for the current year. Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.
38, for a total value of $141,468.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 213,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,415,000.
66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . In other news, EVP Saundra Strong sold 6,300 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th.
The stock was sold at an average price of $25.32, for a total value of $159,516.00.
Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,483. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th.
The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $141,468.12.
Following the sale, the director now owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here .
Insiders sold 13,406 shares of company stock valued at $340,372 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Business First Bancshares Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $116,000.
Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $216,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.
purchased a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $225,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 75.8% in the 1st quarter.
BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Separately, Hovde Group boosted 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.
One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.67.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BFST About Business First Bancshares ( Get Free Report ) 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. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Business First Bancshares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Business First Bancshares and related companies with MarketBeat.
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