Business First Bancshares (BFST) Expected to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) is expected to be announcing its earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, January 23rd. Analysts expect Business First Bancshares to post earnings of $0.49 per share and revenue of $74,745.25 billion for the quarter.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $113.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Business First Bancshares to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $25.37 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.25. 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 has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $749.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.00.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In related news, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $65,825.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 183,057 shares in the company, valued at $4,819,890.81. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,480 shares of company stock worth $329,972. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

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.