Short Interest in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Expands By 45.2%

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST stock traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $28.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 63,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,287. Business First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The company has a market capitalization of $841.89 million, a PE ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.59 and its 200-day moving average is $23.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

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

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total transaction of $105,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,940.51. The trade was a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This trade represents a 7.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992 over the last quarter. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $67,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $116,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $227,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.