BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

BancFirst Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANF opened at $100.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst has a twelve month low of $81.21 and a twelve month high of $132.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.85 and a 200-day moving average of $115.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 0.82.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 14.21%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BancFirst will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Insider Activity

In other BancFirst news, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.97, for a total transaction of $589,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,820. The trade was a 45.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.13, for a total value of $1,191,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 214,499 shares in the company, valued at $25,553,265.87. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $2,994,350 over the last quarter. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANF. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,306,204 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,241,000 after acquiring an additional 44,563 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 12.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 872,101 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,187,000 after purchasing an additional 96,483 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in BancFirst by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 484,883 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BancFirst in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,649,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BancFirst by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,320 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,242,000 after buying an additional 26,707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

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.