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

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 625,000 shares, a growth of 41.3% from the September 15th total of 442,200 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 120,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

BancFirst Stock Up 0.5 %

BANF stock opened at $107.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $103.73 and a 200 day moving average of $94.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current 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 $111.00.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $153.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.75 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 13.89%. Sell-side analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. 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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 10,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.02, for a total value of $1,089,162.42. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,944,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,292,604.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other BancFirst news, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 10,371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.02, for a total transaction of $1,089,162.42. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,944,702 shares in the company, valued at $519,292,604.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dave R. Lopez sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.13, for a total transaction of $102,130.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,564 shares of company stock valued at $7,150,517 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANF. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management raised its position in BancFirst by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 1,127,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,246,000 after buying an additional 45,629 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,844 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 557.1% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 506 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,066 shares in the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BANF shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report 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.