Business First Bancshares, Inc. (BFST) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Business First Bancshares's P/E of 11.5 is above its own 5-year median of 9.9.

P/E below the industry

Business First Bancshares's P/E of 11.5 is below the Commercial Banks median of 12.1.

P/S above the industry

Business First Bancshares's price-to-sales of 91.76 is above the Commercial Banks median of 3.60.

P/B below the industry

Business First Bancshares's price-to-book of 1.05 is below the Commercial Banks median of 1.29.

Trading above fair value

The share price of $32.56 is above our fair value estimate of $32.40.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 0.5% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew 9.0% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing under 10% a year

Diluted EPS grew 6.3% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings growth not accelerating

Net income grew 20.8% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 24.0% a year.

Growing slower than the industry

Revenue grew 4.1% over the last twelve months; the Commercial Banks median is 11.3%.

Company guidance

No outlook found in earnings releases from the last twelve months.

Gross margin trend

Banks and insurers do not report gross profit.

Return on equity under 15%

Return on equity was 10.0% over the last twelve months and averaged 10.8% over five years; we look for 15% on both.

Return on assets over 1%

Return on assets was 1.1%; for a bank or insurer, 1% or more is considered good.

Return on equity below the industry

Business First Bancshares's return on equity of 10.0% is below the Commercial Banks median of 11.5%.

Earnings grew over 5 years

Net income grew 24.0% a year on average over the last five fiscal years.

Net margin above its 5-year average

Net margin was 805% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 718%.

Net margin above the industry

Business First Bancshares's net margin of 805% is above the Commercial Banks median of 30.3%.

Well capitalized

Equity is 11.3% of total assets; 8% or more is a comfortable cushion.

Loans funded by deposits

Loans equal 91.2% of deposits, so lending is funded by customer deposits.

Thin loan-loss reserve

The allowance for credit losses is 0.9% of loans; we look for at least 1%.

High cost base

Non-interest expense takes 63.3% of revenue; under 60% is efficient for a bank.

Deposits growing

Deposits grew 12.7% over the past year.

Borrowings

Needs debt and equity figures.

Pays a dividend

Business First Bancshares paid dividends worth 1.8% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 1.8% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; Business First Bancshares yields 1.8%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 19.7% of net income.

Cash-flow cover

Needs dividends paid and free cash flow.