Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $163.00.

BFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Bank First National from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bank First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank First National from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th.

Bank First National Stock Performance

Shares of Bank First National stock opened at $149.03 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 0.42. Bank First National has a 12 month low of $119.08 and a 12 month high of $159.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.60 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $75.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.80 million. Bank First National had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 27.38%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank First National will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Bank First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 23rd. Bank First National’s payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Todd A. Sprang bought 400 shares of Bank First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $148.37 per share, with a total value of $59,348.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,687.47. The trade was a 19.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sistine Peter J. Van sold 1,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.57, for a total transaction of $287,493.36. Following the sale, the director owned 7,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,554.80. The trade was a 19.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 4.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank First National

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prairie Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Bank First National by 100.4% during the third quarter. Prairie Advisory LLC now owns 74,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 37,300 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Bank First National by 1,048.3% in the third quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 40,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,015,000 after buying an additional 36,900 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank First National by 53.8% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Bank First National in the second quarter valued at $228,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank First National in the second quarter valued at $424,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 29.95% of the company’s stock.

Bank First National Company Profile

Bank First National, operating as Bank First Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC), is the holding company for Bank First, a community bank headquartered in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The bank provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses and municipalities through locations across Wisconsin.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer loans, residential mortgages, commercial real estate and business lending, agricultural loans, treasury management and online and mobile banking.