StockNews.com Downgrades BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd.

BancFirst Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BANF opened at $101.21 on Wednesday. BancFirst has a one year low of $79.99 and a one year high of $110.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.48.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.09. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.89% and a net margin of 23.46%. The business had revenue of $153.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.75 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BancFirst will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.50, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.50, for a total transaction of $537,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 326,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,142,180. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dave R. Lopez sold 1,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on 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 sold 33,660 shares of company stock valued at $3,580,196 over the last three months. Insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BANF. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in BancFirst by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 9,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $467,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BancFirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in BancFirst by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 169,562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,503,000 after acquiring an additional 12,457 shares during the period. 51.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BancFirst Company Profile

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.