BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

BANF has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded BancFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of BancFirst in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.00.

BancFirst Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BancFirst stock opened at $115.96 on Friday. BancFirst has a twelve month low of $101.48 and a twelve month high of $138.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $113.02 and its 200 day moving average is $112.18. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 0.59.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $187.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.53 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 31.96% and a return on equity of 13.64%. Research analysts anticipate that BancFirst will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. BancFirst’s payout ratio is 26.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BancFirst news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 9,001 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.11, for a total value of $1,036,105.11. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 166,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,198,391.13. This trade represents a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 15,221 shares of company stock worth $1,751,840 over the last three months. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BANF. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of BancFirst by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,375,873 shares of the bank’s stock worth $146,537,000 after purchasing an additional 96,957 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,723,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 168,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,874,000 after acquiring an additional 39,672 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 73.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 163,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,676,000 after acquiring an additional 69,192 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in BancFirst by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 134,175 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,966,000 after acquiring an additional 33,636 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation is a regional banking holding company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As the largest state‐chartered bank in Oklahoma, BancFirst offers a comprehensive suite of financial services to individuals, businesses and government entities. Its core business activities include commercial and consumer banking, mortgage lending, treasury management, equipment financing and electronic banking solutions.

The bank operates a network of more than 60 branches across Oklahoma, serving urban centers such as Oklahoma City and Tulsa, as well as rural communities throughout the state.