Business First Bancshares (BFST) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Business First Bancshares to post earnings of $0.57 per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to register for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $101.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.40 million. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 18.22% and a return on equity of 13.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts expect Business First Bancshares to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Business First Bancshares Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BFST opened at $21.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.61. Business First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $13.05 and a 52-week high of $25.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $550.85 million, a PE ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 0.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded Business First Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Business First Bancshares in a report on Monday, January 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Business First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Warren Mcdonald sold 7,000 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total value of $156,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,725.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.45% of the company’s stock.

About Business First Bancshares

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.