BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd.

BancFirst Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BANF opened at $122.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.34. BancFirst has a 12-month low of $80.80 and a 12-month high of $128.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.18. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. The business had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. BancFirst’s payout ratio is presently 29.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In related news, Director Dave R. Lopez sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.13, for a total value of $102,130.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 1,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.01, for a total transaction of $146,068.91. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 215,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,579,670.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dave R. Lopez sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were 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 122,809 shares of company stock worth $13,576,698 over the last three months. Insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANF. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 58.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,125,000 after buying an additional 8,939 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in BancFirst by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,980 shares of the bank’s stock worth $967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,066 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 87.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 21,296 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 9,936 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the first quarter worth approximately $4,274,000. 51.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.