The pursuit of market outperformance leads investors to the practice of hand-picking stocks. Skillful choices can be a catalyst for significant wealth enhancement.
In the latest session, Business First Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ: BFST) closed at $26.19 up 1.04% from its previous closing price of $25.92. In other words, the price has increased by $1.04 from its previous closing price. On the day, 57502.0 shares were traded. BFST stock price reached its highest trading level at $26.49 during the session, while it also had its lowest trading level at $26.0.
Ratios:
For a deeper understanding of Business First Bancshares Inc’s stock, let’s take a closer look at its various ratios. In the meantime, Its Debt-to-Equity ratio is 0.56 whereas as Long-Term Debt/Eq ratio is at 0.45.
Upgrades & Downgrades
In addition, analysts’ ratings and any changes thereto give investors an idea of the stock’s future direction. In the most recent recommendation for the company, Hovde Group on January 24, 2025, Upgraded its rating to Outperform and sets its target price to $33 from $31.50 previously.
On December 19, 2024, Raymond James Upgraded its rating to Outperform which previously was Mkt Perform but kept the price unchanged to $30.
Hovde Group Downgraded its Outperform to Market Perform on November 13, 2024, whereas the target price for the stock was revised from $30 to $31.50.
Insider Transactions:
Additionally, insider trades can be beneficial to investors who want to learn what the management thinks about stock prices in the future. A recent insider transaction in this stock occurred on Jun 06 ’25 when MCCOLLISTER ROLFE H. JR. bought 680 shares for $23.40 per share. The transaction valued at 15,912 led to the insider holds 92,960 shares of the business.
ROBERTSON GREG sold 1,086 shares of BFST for $25,760 on May 29 ’25. The EVP and CFO now owns 69,235 shares after completing the transaction at $23.72 per share. On Mar 05 ’25, another insider, Day Rick D., who serves as the Director of the company, bought 1,500 shares for $25.46 each. As a result, the insider paid 38,195 and bolstered with 264,285 shares of the company.
Valuation Measures:
Investors should consider key stock statistics when deciding whether to invest or divest. In the wake of the recent closing price, BFST now has a Market Capitalization of 777712064 and an Enterprise Value of 786906432. As of this moment, Business’s Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio for their current fiscal year is 10.76, and their Forward P/E ratio for the next fiscal year is 9.13. For the stock, the TTM Price-to-Sale (P/S) ratio is 1.63 while its Price-to-Book (P/B) ratio in mrq is 1.03. Its current Enterprise Value per Revenue stands at 2.843.
Stock Price History:
The Beta on a monthly basis for BFST is 0.84, which has changed by 0.27445257 over the last 52 weeks, in comparison to a change of 0.12792087 over the same period for the S&P500. Over the past 52 weeks, BFST has reached a high of $30.30, while it has fallen to a 52-week low of $20.07. The 50-Day Moving Average of the stock is 9.39%, while the 200-Day Moving Average is calculated to be 3.03%.
Shares Statistics:
For the past three months, BFST has traded an average of 111.91K shares per day and 160620 over the past ten days. A total of 29.57M shares are outstanding, with a floating share count of 27.83M. Insiders hold about 6.29% of the company’s shares, while institutions hold 46.71% stake in the company. Shares short for BFST as of 1749772800 were 265991 with a Short Ratio of 2.38, compared to 1747267200 on 261760. Therefore, it implies a Short% of Shares Outstanding of 265991 and a Short% of Float of 0.9400000000000001.
Dividends & Splits
According to the company, the forward annual dividend rate for BFST is 0.56, from 0.56 in the trailing year. Against a Trailing Annual Dividend Yield of 0.021604938The stock’s 5-year Average Dividend Yield is 2.21.
