BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 431,100 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the August 15th total of 403,500 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 93,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 22,114 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.46, for a total transaction of $2,332,142.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,958,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,880,698.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other BancFirst news, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 22,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.46, for a total value of $2,332,142.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,958,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,880,698.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.50, for a total value of $537,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 326,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,142,180. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 67,564 shares of company stock worth $7,150,517. 33.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 169,562 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,503,000 after purchasing an additional 12,457 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 963,163 shares of the bank’s stock worth $93,748,000 after purchasing an additional 9,751 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BancFirst during the 4th quarter worth about $23,802,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in BancFirst in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the 4th quarter worth $305,000. 51.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BancFirst Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of BancFirst stock traded up $1.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $108.37. 54,457 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 75,253. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. BancFirst has a 52-week low of $79.99 and a 52-week high of $110.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $102.53 and a 200-day moving average of $92.38.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.09. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The company had revenue of $153.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.75 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 6.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 30.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th.

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.