MGB Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 32,733 Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

MGB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $841,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 5.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 7.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 407,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,468,000 after buying an additional 27,023 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Business First Bancshares by 9.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 384,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,862,000 after buying an additional 33,870 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 921.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 295,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,580,000 after buying an additional 266,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Business First Bancshares by 194.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 196,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,037,000 after buying an additional 129,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $27.41 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.77. The stock has a market cap of $809.69 million, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.00. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.97 and a 52-week high of $30.30. 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 (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group upgraded Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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.

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.