The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Stock Position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 471,702 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,958 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 1.85% of Business First Bancshares worth $10,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,568,000 after acquiring an additional 50,955 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 418,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,115,000 after buying an additional 68,506 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Business First Bancshares by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 333,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,231,000 after buying an additional 17,095 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Business First Bancshares by 6.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 201,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,482,000 after buying an additional 11,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV boosted its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 4.3% in the second quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 121,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,636,000 after acquiring an additional 4,975 shares in the last quarter. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total transaction of $141,468.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 213,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 5,574 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $141,468.12. Following the transaction, the director now owns 213,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,415,000.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $39,387.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $529,497.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,906 shares of company stock worth $377,392 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Business First Bancshares from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.67.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

BFST stock opened at $24.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $613.58 million, a PE ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.32. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.90 and a 12-month high of $26.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%. The company had revenue of $112.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 22.05%.

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.