Business First Bancshares
BFST on Nasdaq. First Bancshares sells banking products and services to small and midsized businesses. Market value $1.0bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Some use the latest annual report instead, as marked. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
We can't read total debt from the filing, so debt is left out.
Should I look at this?
Worth a closer look
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
Nothing stood out in the numbers we check.
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
Yearly profit per dollar of owners' money: 11 cents. Above 10 is good.
What you pay for each dollar of net assets: $0.99.
Profit per $100 you pay: $9.29.
Quality score: 90 of 100. Price score: 100 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$30.74 a share, 36% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $22.56 to $32.53.
Dividend: 1.7% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Payouts have jumped around in recent years, so this may not repeat.
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $7m | $8m | $10m | $11m | $11m |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.03bn | 0.03bn | 0.03bn | 0.03bn | 0.03bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positiveDoesn't apply to banks and insurers
- Accounting checksDoesn't apply to banks and insurers
- DebtDoesn't apply to banks and insurers
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 14.8% a year
- Buying back its own sharesNo, 30% more shares since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $3 million last quarter, about the same as a year ago.
- Profit: $24 million, up 9% on a year ago.
- 11% more shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit less of the company.
- Sales grew on a year ago in 2 of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $3m |
| December 2024 | $3m |
| March 2025 | $3m |
| June 2025 | $3m |
| September 2025 | $3m |
| December 2025 | $3m |
| March 2026 | $3m |
| June 2026 | $3m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $18m |
| December 2024 | $16m |
| March 2025 | $21m |
| June 2025 | $22m |
| September 2025 | $23m |
| December 2025 | $22m |
| March 2026 | $24m |
| June 2026 | $24m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 26 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 30 October 2026
Who owns it
3 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 3 last quarter. 174 funds in all.
- LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok
- Value
- $592,000
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $29m | 0.2% | Added |
| Polaris Capital ManagementBernard Horn | $3m | 0.3% | Added |
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $592,000 | <0.1% |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$84mAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$43mCut
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP$40mAdded
- Jupiter Topco$33m
- State Street$32mAdded
- American Century Companies$32mAdded
- Royce & Associates$29mAdded
- Geode Capital Management$27mAdded
- Bank of New York Mellon$14mAdded
- Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, the$13m
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
2 investors own more than 5%.
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor8.0%+1.3 ptsSince 30 June 2026
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor5.1%Since 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 8.0%+1.3 pts | 30 June 2026 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 5.1% | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 2 insiders bought $131,023 of shares on the open market. 8 sold $7m.
- Cummings George W. IIIDirectorSold
- Date
- 24 August 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $31.33
- Value
- $313,300
- Cummings George W. IIIDirectorSold
- Date
- 21 August 2026
- Shares
- 4,200
- Price
- $31.27
- Value
- $131,334
- Cummings George W. IIIDirectorSold
- Date
- 19 August 2026
- Shares
- 3,235
- Price
- $31.80
- Value
- $102,873
- Cummings George W. IIIDirectorSold
- Date
- 18 August 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $31.78
- Value
- $317,800
- Carter Donald ChadEVP, Correspondent BankingSold
- Date
- 6 August 2026
- Shares
- 1,875
- Price
- $31.64
- Value
- $59,325
- Hall William G.DirectorSold
- Date
- 5 August 2026
- Shares
- 11,389
- Price
- $31.97
- Value
- $364,106
- Strong SaundraEVP & General CounselSold
- Date
- 5 August 2026
- Shares
- 1,000
- Price
- $31.98
- Value
- $31,980
- Cummings George W. IIIDirectorSold
- Date
- 3 August 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $31.87
- Value
- $318,700
- Cummings George W. IIIDirectorSold
- Date
- 31 July 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $31.50
- Value
- $315,000
- MANSFIELD KEITHEVP&COO of b1BankSold
- Date
- 30 July 2026
- Shares
- 4,200
- Price
- $32.08
- Value
- $134,736
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 August 2026 | Cummings George W. III Director | Sold | 10,000 | $31.33 | $313,300 |
| 21 August 2026 | Cummings George W. III Director | Sold | 4,200 | $31.27 | $131,334 |
| 19 August 2026 | Cummings George W. III Director | Sold | 3,235 | $31.80 | $102,873 |
| 18 August 2026 | Cummings George W. III Director | Sold | 10,000 | $31.78 | $317,800 |
| 6 August 2026 | Carter Donald Chad EVP, Correspondent Banking | Sold | 1,875 | $31.64 | $59,325 |
| 5 August 2026 | Hall William G. Director | Sold | 11,389 | $31.97 | $364,106 |
| 5 August 2026 | Strong Saundra EVP & General Counsel | Sold | 1,000 | $31.98 | $31,980 |
| 3 August 2026 | Cummings George W. III Director | Sold | 10,000 | $31.87 | $318,700 |
| 31 July 2026 | Cummings George W. III Director | Sold | 10,000 | $31.50 | $315,000 |
| 30 July 2026 | MANSFIELD KEITH EVP&COO of b1Bank | Sold | 4,200 | $32.08 | $134,736 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 26 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 31 Jul 2026 and 5 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.