Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $358,000 Stock Holdings in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,930 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Business First Bancshares were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $227,000. Americana Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $317,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Business First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $405,000. Institutional investors own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Business First Bancshares Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BFST opened at $26.30 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.22 and its 200-day moving average is $26.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $776.93 million, a PE ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.00.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Business First Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BFST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised shares of Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group raised Business First Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $31.50 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th.

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.