BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BANF. DA Davidson raised their price target on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd.

BancFirst Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BANF opened at $122.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst has a 12-month low of $80.80 and a 12-month high of $128.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $163.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. As a group, equities analysts predict that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. BancFirst’s payout ratio is 29.58%.

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In other news, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.58, for a total transaction of $1,334,532.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,971.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total transaction of $1,755,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 291,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,152,768. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $197,971.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 122,809 shares of company stock worth $13,576,698. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,993 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,972 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,070 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.