BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Short Interest Update

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 563,800 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the October 15th total of 596,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 113,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

BancFirst Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:BANF opened at $121.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $109.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. BancFirst has a 52 week low of $81.21 and a 52 week high of $129.00.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.18. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The company had revenue of $163.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. On average, research analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. BancFirst’s payout ratio is currently 29.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BANF. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, EVP Randy Foraker sold 2,870 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.10, for a total transaction of $307,377.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $3,075,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 249,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,640,038. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 157,107 shares of company stock worth $17,847,219. Company insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in BancFirst during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in BancFirst by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in BancFirst by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 834 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in BancFirst by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 842 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in BancFirst during the 2nd quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

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.