BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

BANF has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

BancFirst Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:BANF opened at $118.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. BancFirst has a fifty-two week low of $81.21 and a fifty-two week high of $132.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $121.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 1.06.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total value of $567,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 306,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,833,604. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total value of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,500. This trade represents a 10.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,869 shares of company stock worth $14,309,535. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 64.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 834 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst during the second quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst during the third quarter worth approximately $105,000. 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.