Business First Bancshares, Inc. (BFST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.14 on August 31st

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share on Saturday, August 31st. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th.

Business First Bancshares has raised its dividend by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years. Business First Bancshares has a payout ratio of 21.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Business First Bancshares to earn $2.65 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 21.1%.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BFST traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 130,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 90,278. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $668.61 million, a P/E ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Business First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $16.92 and a 1-year high of $26.68.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 12.36%. The firm had revenue of $112.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.16 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other Business First Bancshares news, Director Rick D. Day acquired 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.30 per share, for a total transaction of $36,540.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 262,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,334,535.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Business First Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

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.