DA Davidson Has Bullish Outlook for BFST FY2024 Earnings

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) – Equities researchers at DA Davidson raised their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note issued on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $2.28 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $2.17. The consensus estimate for Business First Bancshares’ current full-year earnings is $2.29 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Business First Bancshares’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.47 EPS.

BFST has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Hovde Group lowered Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ BFST opened at $25.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $766.00 million, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Business First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 24.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $158,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 185,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,891,282.52. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 12,480 shares of company stock valued at $329,972 over the last three months. 6.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Business First Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 109,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after buying an additional 7,390 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Business First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $106,000. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV raised its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 121,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after acquiring an additional 4,975 shares during the last quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $802,000. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.