Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.14

Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) has declared a quarterly dividend, announcing this on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders who hold shares on the record date, which is set for Friday, November 15th, will receive a dividend payment of $0.14 per share. This payment is scheduled for Saturday, November 30th. Annually, this corresponds to a total dividend of $0.56, resulting in a yield of 2.16%. It's important to note that the ex-dividend date for this payment is also Friday, November 15th.

Over the past three years, Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend payout by an average of 7.7% each year. The company's payout ratio stands at 21.5%, indicating that its dividends are well-supported by its earnings. Analysts project that Business First Bancshares will earn $2.60 per share in the upcoming year, which suggests that the company can adequately maintain its $0.56 annual dividend at the same payout ratio.

Recent Stock Performance

In midday trading on Friday, shares of NASDAQ:BFST saw an increase of 3.7%, climbing $0.93 to reach a price of $25.97. The trading volume for the day was recorded at 75,196 shares, above its average volume of 61,248. The company’s stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.73. The market capitalization of Business First Bancshares is approximately $662.29 million, with a PE ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.97. Over the past year, the stock has reached a low of $18.43 and a high of $26.93.

On the same day of the dividend announcement, the company also revealed its quarterly earnings results. Business First Bancshares reported earnings of $0.68 per share, surpassing the analysts' expectations of $0.57 by $0.11. Their revenue for the quarter was $113.52 million, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $65.24 million. The company achieved a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 15.90%. In comparison, the earnings per share for the same period last year was $0.71. Analysts have forecasted that the company will achieve earnings of about $2.14 per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Trading Activities

In related news, there have been insider sell transactions within the company. Insider Warren McDonald sold 1,532 shares of the company's stock on Thursday, August 1st, at an average price of $25.71, totaling approximately $39,387.72. Following this transaction, McDonald retained ownership of 20,595 shares, valued around $529,497.45. Additionally, EVP Saundra Strong sold 6,300 shares on Tuesday, July 30th, for a total of $159,516. After the sale, Strong holds 11,275 shares valued at around $285,483. In total, insiders have sold 14,906 shares of the company's stock in the last quarter, representing 6.45% of the total stock holdings.

Analyst Ratings and Outlook

In market news, Hovde Group recently raised its price target for Business First Bancshares shares from $29.00 to $30.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating. Currently, one research analyst rates the stock as a hold, while four analysts have assigned a buy rating, giving the stock an overall consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $26.67.

Business First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for b1BANK, offering a range of banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. Their product lineup includes various types of deposit services such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and more.

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