Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) were down 4.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $20.56 and last traded at $20.76. Approximately 14,002 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 49,288 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BFST shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research report on Monday, January 15th. Raymond James downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 5.1 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.64. The company has a market capitalization of $527.66 million, a P/E ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 18.22%. The company had revenue of $101.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In other news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total transaction of $156,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,725.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 25.1% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 295,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,552,000 after buying an additional 59,297 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,276,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,945,000 after buying an additional 16,094 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $743,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 3.1% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 53,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.