Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Business First Bancshares by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 407,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,468,000 after buying an additional 27,023 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Business First Bancshares by 158.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 28,663 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 523,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,441,000 after purchasing an additional 24,992 shares during the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Business First Bancshares by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 171,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,365,000 after purchasing an additional 34,602 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Rick D. Day bought 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $38,190.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 264,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,728,696.10. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST stock opened at $25.40 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.27. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week high of $30.30. The stock has a market cap of $750.62 million, a PE ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.04.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.17. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 14.19%. As a group, analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.78%.

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.