BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Hits New 52-Week High at $111.00

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $111.00 and last traded at $109.78, with a volume of 76354 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $106.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BANF. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th.

BancFirst Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 1.03.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $153.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.75 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.89% and a net margin of 23.46%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BancFirst Co. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. This is an increase from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.07%.

Insider Activity at BancFirst

In related news, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 10,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.02, for a total value of $1,089,162.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,944,702 shares in the company, valued at $519,292,604.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 10,371 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,944,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,292,604.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $319,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,714 shares in the company, valued at $821,541. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 67,564 shares of company stock worth $7,150,517. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in BancFirst by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,160 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,888,000 after acquiring an additional 16,664 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BancFirst during the fourth quarter worth about $23,802,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 499.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,053,000 after purchasing an additional 48,006 shares in the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by 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.