Business First Bancshares
Market Cap
US$341.4m
Last Updated
2020/02/21 02:37 UTC
Data Sources
Company Financials +
Executive Summary
Business First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Business First Bank that provides various banking products and services.
Rewards
Risk Analysis
Snowflake Analysis
Flawless balance sheet with solid track record.
Share Price & News
How has Business First Bancshares's share price performed over time and what events caused price changes?
Latest Share Price and Events
Stable Share Price: BFST has not had significant price volatility in the past 3 months.
Market Performance
7 Day Return
-1.8%
BFST
-0.3%
US Banks
0.06%
US Market
1 Year Return
5.6%
BFST
11.1%
US Banks
19.3%
US Market
Return vs Industry: BFST underperformed the US Banks industry which returned 11.1% over the past year.
Return vs Market: BFST underperformed the US Market which returned 19.3% over the past year.
Shareholder returns
| BFST | Industry | Market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Day | -1.8% | -0.3% | 0.06% |
| 30 Day | 5.3% | -0.5% | 1.7% |
| 90 Day | 4.0% | 0.6% | 9.0% |
| 1 Year | 7.3%5.6% | 14.4%11.1% | 21.8%19.3% |
| 3 Year | n/a | 24.7%15.7% | 49.5%39.9% |
| 5 Year | n/a | 74.9%55.1% | 73.1%54.1% |
Price Volatility Vs. Market
How volatile is Business First Bancshares's share price compared to the market and industry in the last 5 years?
Simply Wall St News
1 week ago | Simply Wall St
Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)'s Could Be A Buy For Its Upcoming Dividend3 weeks ago | Simply Wall St
Business First Bancshares, Inc. Full-Year Results Just Came Out: Here's What Analysts Are Forecasting For Next Year1 month ago | Simply Wall St
What Kind Of Investor Owns Most Of Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST)?Valuation
Is Business First Bancshares undervalued compared to its fair value and its price relative to the market?
42.5%
Undervalued compared to fair value
Share Price vs. Fair Value
Below Fair Value: BFST ($25.71) is trading below our estimate of fair value ($44.68)
Significantly Below Fair Value: BFST is trading below fair value by more than 20%.
Price To Earnings Ratio
PE vs Industry: BFST is poor value based on its PE Ratio (14.4x) compared to the Banks industry average (12.6x).
PE vs Market: BFST is good value based on its PE Ratio (14.4x) compared to the US market (18.5x).
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
PEG Ratio: BFST is good value based on its PEG Ratio (0.3x)
Price to Book Ratio
PB vs Industry: BFST is overvalued based on its PB Ratio (1.2x) compared to the US Banks industry average (1.2x).
Next Steps
Future Growth
How is Business First Bancshares forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 4 analysts?
41.7%
Forecasted annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts
Analyst Future Growth Forecasts
Earnings vs Savings Rate: BFST's forecast earnings growth (41.7% per year) is above the savings rate (1.7%).
Earnings vs Market: BFST's earnings (41.7% per year) are forecast to grow faster than the US market (14.2% per year).
High Growth Earnings: earnings are expected to grow significantly over the next 3 years.
Revenue vs Market: BFST's revenue (29.5% per year) is forecast to grow faster than the US market (7.6% per year).
High Growth Revenue: BFST's revenue (29.5% per year) is forecast to grow faster than 20% per year.
Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts
Future Return on Equity
Future ROE: BFST's Return on Equity is forecast to be low in 3 years time (11.5%).
Next Steps
Past Performance
How has Business First Bancshares performed over the past 5 years?
40.5%
Historical annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue History
Quality Earnings: BFST has high quality earnings.
Growing Profit Margin: BFST's current net profit margins (26.9%) are higher than last year (21%).
Past Earnings Growth Analysis
Earnings Trend: BFST's earnings have grown significantly by 40.5% per year over the past 5 years.
Accelerating Growth: BFST's earnings growth over the past year (68.7%) exceeds its 5-year average (40.5% per year).
Earnings vs Industry: BFST earnings growth over the past year (68.7%) exceeded the Banks industry 12.2%.
Return on Equity
High ROE: BFST's Return on Equity (8.3%) is considered low.
Return on Assets
Return on Capital Employed
Next Steps
Financial Health
How is Business First Bancshares's financial position? (This company is analysed differently as a bank or financial institution)
Financial Position Analysis
Debt to Equity History and Analysis
Balance Sheet
Inventory Level: BFST has a low level of unsold assets or inventory.
Debt Coverage by Assets: BFST's debt is not covered by short term assets (assets are 0.9x debt).
Financial Institutions Analysis
Asset Level: BFST's level of assets compared to its equity is low.
Allowance for Bad Loans: BFST has a sufficient allowance for bad loans.
Low Risk Liabilities: BFST's liabilities are made up of primarily low risk sources of funding.
Loan Level: BFST has an acceptable proportion of non-loan assets held.
Low Risk Deposits: BFST's loans are broadly funded by customer deposits.
Level of Bad Loans: BFST has an appropriate level of bad loans (0.53%)
Next Steps
Dividend
What is Business First Bancshares's current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?
1.56%
Current Dividend Yield
Dividend Yield vs Market
Current dividend yield vs market & industry
Notable Dividend: BFST's dividend (1.56%) is higher than the bottom 25% of dividend payers in the US market (1.44%).
High Dividend: BFST's dividend (1.56%) is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the US market (3.71%).
Stability and Growth of Payments
Stable Dividend: Whilst dividend payments have been stable, BFST has been paying a dividend for less than 10 years.
Growing Dividend: BFST's dividend payments have increased, but the company has only paid a dividend for 2 years.
Current Payout to Shareholders
Dividend Coverage: With its low payout ratio (22.4%), BFST's dividend payments are well covered by earnings.
Future Payout to Shareholders
Future Dividend Coverage: BFST's dividends in 3 years are forecast to be well covered by earnings (16.9% payout ratio).
Next Steps
Management
How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?
1.8yrs
Average management tenure
CEO
Jude Melville (44yo)
8.9yrs
Tenure
US$1,023,254
Compensation
Mr. David R. Melville, III, also known as Jude, has been the Chief Executive Officer, President and Director at b1Bank and Business First Bancshares, Inc. since March 2011. Mr. Melville has served in these ...
CEO Compensation Analysis
Compensation vs Market: Jude's total compensation ($USD1.02M) is below average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD1.66M).
Compensation vs Earnings: Jude's compensation has increased by more than 20% in the past year.
Leadership Team
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | 8.9yrs | US$1.02m | 0.77% $2.6m | |
| CFO & Treasurer | 3.1yrs | US$512.35k | 0.13% $434.2k | |
| Executive VP | 0.6yrs | no data | no data | |
| Corporate Secretary | 0yrs | no data | no data | |
| Regional President of SWLA | 0.6yrs | no data | no data |
1.8yrs
Average Tenure
Experienced Management: BFST's management team is not considered experienced ( 1.8 years average tenure), which suggests a new team.
Board Members
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | 8.9yrs | US$1.02m | 0.77% $2.6m | |
| Independent Director | 4.7yrs | US$20.00k | 0.23% $801.3k | |
| Independent Director | 7.8yrs | US$22.50k | 0.25% $857.2k | |
| Chairman of the Board | 8.7yrs | US$159.73k | 0.13% $432.9k | |
| Independent Director | 7.8yrs | US$20.75k | 0.32% $1.1m | |
| Independent Director | 14.5yrs | US$16.25k | 0.63% $2.2m | |
| Independent Director | 7.8yrs | US$20.75k | 0.21% $726.0k | |
| Independent Director | 7.8yrs | US$19.83k | 0.071% $243.6k | |
| Independent Director | 7.8yrs | US$22.25k | 0.052% $175.9k | |
| Independent Director | 7.8yrs | US$16.00k | 0.26% $875.6k |
7.8yrs
Average Tenure
60.5yo
Average Age
Experienced Board: BFST's board of directors are considered experienced (7.8 years average tenure).
Ownership
Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?
Insider Trading Volume
Insider Buying: Insufficient data to determine if insiders have bought more shares than they have sold in the past 3 months.
Recent Insider Transactions
Ownership Breakdown
Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have been diluted in the past year, with total shares outstanding growing by 19.7%.
Top Shareholders
Company Information
Business First Bancshares, Inc.'s company bio, employee growth, exchange listings and data sources
Key Information
- Name: Business First Bancshares, Inc.
- Ticker: BFST
- Exchange: NasdaqGS
- Founded: 2006
- Industry: Regional Banks
- Sector: Banks
- Market Cap: US$341.412m
- Shares outstanding: 13.28m
- Website: https://www.b1bank.com
Number of Employees
Location
- Business First Bancshares, Inc.
- 500 Laurel Street
- Suite 101
- Baton Rouge
- Louisiana
- 70801
- United States
Listings
| Ticker | Exchange | Primary Security | Security Type | Country | Currency | Listed on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFST | NasdaqGS (Nasdaq Global Select) | Yes | Common Stock | US | USD | Apr 2018 |
Biography
Business First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Business First Bank that provides various banking products and services. It offers various deposit products and services, including a range of checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and remote deposit capture and direct deposit services. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans, including commercial lines of credit, working capital loans, term loans, equipment financing, asset acquisition, expansion and development loans, borrowing base loans, letters of credit, and other loan products; construction and development loans; commercial real estate loans; residential real estate loans comprising first and second lien one-to-four family mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit; consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment and term loans; and credit cards. In addition, it offers wealth management products, including mutual funds, annuities, individual retirement accounts, and other financial products. Further, the company provides a range of other financial services comprising drive-through banking facilities, automated teller machines, and employee and payroll benefits solutions; and night depository, personalized checks, treasury and cash management, merchant, automated clearing house, electronic funds transfer, domestic and foreign wire transfer, traveler’s checks, vault, loan and deposit sweep accounts, lock-box, international trade finance, international trade, foreign exchange, online and mobile banking, e-statements, and bank-by-mail services. The company operates through 25 banking centers located in the State of Louisiana and in Dallas, Texas. Business First Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2020/02/21 02:37 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2020/02/20 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2019/12/31 |
| Annual Earnings | 2019/12/31 |
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.