Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Shares Sold by Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Business First Bancshares by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after buying an additional 50,955 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Business First Bancshares by 19.6% during 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. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 1,380.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 370,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after purchasing an additional 345,000 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 6.1% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 121,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after buying an additional 4,975 shares during the period. 47.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $37,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,264.60. This trade represents a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Vernon Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $65,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 183,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,819,890.81. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,980 shares of company stock worth $366,992. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Hovde Group cut Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $31.50 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $28.20 on Monday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.97 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.02 and a 200-day moving average of $23.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $833.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.97.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.11. Business First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 14.92%. The business had revenue of $113.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.14%.

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.