Banc Funds Co. LLC Sells 25,509 Shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Banc Funds Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 462,494 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,509 shares during the quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $11,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Business First Bancshares by 2,249.7% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 22,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 21,395 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $450,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 109,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $106,000. Finally, Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 4.3% during the second quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 121,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,636,000 after buying an additional 4,975 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group lowered shares of Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.8 %

BFST stock opened at $28.50 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $841.92 million, a P/E ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.99. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.24 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 11.57%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Business First Bancshares news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the business’s 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. The trade was a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,980 shares of company stock valued at $366,992 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

About Business First Bancshares

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.