StockNews.com Upgrades BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) to “Hold”

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

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

BancFirst Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ BANF opened at $118.44 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst has a 12-month low of $81.21 and a 12-month high of $132.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $118.50 and a 200 day moving average of $114.94.

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

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,191,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 214,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,553,265.87. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.97, for a total value of $589,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $707,820. This trade represents a 45.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,500,350. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in BancFirst by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 862 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BancFirst by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in BancFirst by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,085 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,005 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of BancFirst by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,845,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.