Fourthstone LLC Makes New $1.15 Million Investment in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Fourthstone LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 44,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BFST. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased 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 acquiring an additional 3,883 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after purchasing an additional 129,677 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $579,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 75,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ BFST traded down $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $28.72. 88,440 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 66,299. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.97 and a fifty-two week high of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $848.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.87.

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

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.14%.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 3,980 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.63, for a total value of $105,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 203,077 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,940.51. The trade was a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $37,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at $471,264.60. This 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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares 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.