BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Short Interest Up 30.0% in December

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 596,900 shares, an increase of 30.0% from the November 30th total of 459,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 95,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Insider Activity at BancFirst

In other BancFirst news, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.58, for a total value of $1,334,532.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,971.12. The trade was a 87.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 2,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.47, for a total transaction of $237,731.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,942,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,003,498.50. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,150 shares of company stock worth $15,442,825 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 1.4% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of BancFirst by 49.5% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,993 shares of the bank’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in BancFirst during the second quarter valued at about $906,000. 51.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BancFirst Stock Down 1.1 %

BANF traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $119.89. 60,795 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 86,068. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27 and a beta of 1.05. BancFirst has a one year low of $81.21 and a one year high of $132.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $120.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. As a group, analysts expect that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

BancFirst Company Profile

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments.