Jump Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Business First Bancshares, Inc. $BFST

Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 11,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BFST. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 798,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,512,000 after acquiring an additional 83,664 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Business First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $271,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Business First Bancshares by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 232,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,971,000 after purchasing an additional 21,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.35% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John P. Ducrest purchased 2,225 shares of Business First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.62 per share, with a total value of $52,554.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $323,971.92. The trade was a 19.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Business First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of BFST opened at $25.15 on Thursday. Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $30.30. The stock has a market cap of $744.44 million, a PE ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.35.

Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. Business First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.47% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The firm had revenue of $103.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Business First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Business First Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Business First Bancshares’s payout ratio is 22.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BFST shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Business First Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Business First Bancshares from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.75.

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.