Note 15 - Shareholders' Equity and Regulatory Matters -

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Regulatory Capital Requirements under Banking Regulations [Text Block]

Note

1

5

– S

hare

holders’

Equity and Regulatory Matters –

Shareholders’ Equity of the Company includes the undistributed earnings of the Bank. The Company pays dividends from its assets, which are provided primarily by dividends from the Bank. Certain restrictions exist regarding the ability of the Bank to pay cash distributions. Louisiana statutes require approval to pay distributions in excess of a bank’s earnings in the current year plus retained net profits for the preceding year. The Company paid quarterly common stock dividends totaling

$0.38

per share and

$0.30

per share for the years ended

December 31, 2019

and

2018,

respectively, based upon quarterly financial performance.

Common Stock

Repurchase Plan

On

December 13, 2018,

the Company’s board of directors approved a resolution authorizing management to repurchase shares of its common stock with an aggregate purchase price of up to

$15

million from time to time, subject to certain limitations and conditions. The stock repurchase program is effective for a period of

24

months. The stock repurchase program does

not

obligate the Company to repurchase any shares of its common stock. The Company repurchased

$2.5

million and

$0

shares for the years ended

December 31, 2019

and

2018,

respectively.

Regulatory Matters

The Company and the Bank are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by federal and state banking agencies. Failure to meet minimum regulatory capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory, and possible additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on the Company’s and the Bank’s financial statements.

Under the regulatory capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, the Company and the Bank must meet specific capital guidelines involving quantitative measures of assets, liabilities and certain off-balance-sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The capital amounts and classification under the prompt corrective action guidelines are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors. Prompt corrective action provisions are

not

applicable to bank holding companies.

Quantitative measures established by regulation to ensure capital adequacy require the Company and the Bank to maintain minimum amounts and ratios. As detailed below, as of

December 31, 2019

and

2018,

the Bank met all of the capital adequacy requirements to which it is subject.

As of

December 31, 2019

and

2018,

the Bank was categorized as well capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action. To maintain categorized as well capitalized, the Bank will have to maintain minimum total capital, Tier I capital, risk-based common equity Tier I, and Tier I leverage ratios as disclosed in the table below. There are

no

conditions or events since the most recent notification that management believes have changed the prompt corrective action category.

The following is a summary of the Company’s (consolidated) and the Bank’s actual capital amounts and ratios at

December 31, 2019

and

2018.

											To Be Well
											Capitalized Under
						For Capital					Prompt Corrective
Business First Bancshares, Inc. (Consolidated)	Actual					Adequacy Purposes					Action Provisions
	Amount		Ratio			Amount		Ratio			Amount		Ratio
	(Dollars in thousands)
December 31, 2019:
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	264,495		13.30	%	$	159,120		8.00	%		N/A		N/A
Tier I Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	227,265		11.43	%	$	119,340		6.00	%		N/A		N/A
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	227,265		11.43	%	$	89,505		4.50	%		N/A		N/A
Tier I Leveraged Capital (to Average Assets)	$	227,265		10.56	%	$	86,058		4.00	%		N/A		N/A
December 31, 2018:
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	242,144		13.91	%	$	139,237		8.00	%		N/A		N/A
Tier I Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	205,924		11.83	%	$	104,428		6.00	%		N/A		N/A
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	205,924		11.83	%	$	78,321		4.50	%		N/A		N/A
Tier I Leveraged Capital (to Average Assets)	$	205,924		11.66	%	$	70,641		4.00	%		N/A		N/A

											To Be Well
											Capitalized Under
						For Capital					Prompt Corrective
b1BANK	Actual					Adequacy Purposes					Action Provisions
	Amount		Ratio			Amount		Ratio			Amount		Ratio
	(Dollars in thousands)
December 31, 2019:
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	254,520		12.80	%	$	159,033		8.00	%	$	198,791		10.00	%
Tier I Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	242,290		12.19	%	$	119,275		6.00	%	$	159,033		8.00	%
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	242,290		12.19	%	$	89,456		4.50	%	$	129,214		6.50	%
Tier I Leveraged Capital (to Average Assets)	$	242,290		11.27	%	$	86,015		4.00	%	$	107,518		5.00	%
December 31, 2018:
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	224,356		12.90	%	$	139,126		8.00	%	$	173,908		10.00	%
Tier I Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	213,136		12.26	%	$	104,345		6.00	%	$	139,126		8.00	%
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)	$	213,136		12.26	%	$	78,259		4.50	%	$	113,040		6.50	%
Tier I Leveraged Capital (to Average Assets)	$	213,136		12.08	%	$	70,592		4.00	%	$	88,241		5.00	%