BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Short Interest Update

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the target of a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 349,100 shares, a drop of 18.8% from the June 30th total of 429,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 80,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BANF shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,714 shares in the company, valued at $704,970. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other BancFirst news, EVP Kevin Lawrence sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $900,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $704,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,700 shares of company stock worth $2,495,242. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BANF. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of BancFirst by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,972 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of BancFirst by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,070 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 12,682 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 7,943 shares of the bank’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANF traded down $2.51 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $107.70. 94,019 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 71,380. BancFirst has a 1-year low of $79.99 and a 1-year high of $110.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.50 and a 200 day moving average of $88.76.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.09. BancFirst had a net margin of 29.64% and a return on equity of 14.10%. Research analysts anticipate that BancFirst will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.10%.

About BancFirst

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.