Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $5.08 Million Stake in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 197,698 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,284 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $5,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $111,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Business First Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $294,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $22.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $651.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.75. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.97 and a 12 month high of $30.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.00. 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 (NASDAQ:BFST) last posted 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 net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Research analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BFST. Raymond James raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Transactions at Business First Bancshares

In other news, Director Rick D. Day acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $38,190.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company 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.