StockNews.com Lowers BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd.

BancFirst Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ BANF opened at $101.21 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.93 and its 200-day moving average is $91.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.03. BancFirst has a one year low of $79.99 and a one year high of $110.79.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.09. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The business had revenue of $153.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.75 million. Equities research analysts predict that BancFirst will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 30.07%.

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.50, for a total transaction of $537,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 326,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,142,180. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.50, for a total value of $537,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 326,904 shares in the company, valued at $35,142,180. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,714 shares in the company, valued at $704,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,660 shares of company stock worth $3,580,196 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management increased its holdings in BancFirst by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 1,127,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,246,000 after acquiring an additional 45,629 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 58.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,125,000 after buying an additional 8,939 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in BancFirst by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 169,562 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,503,000 after buying an additional 12,457 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in BancFirst by 85.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,980 shares of the bank’s stock worth $967,000 after buying an additional 5,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in BancFirst by 87.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 21,296 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,874,000 after buying an additional 9,936 shares in the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.