AQR Capital Management LLC Makes New $220,000 Investment in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,514 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in BancFirst by 557.1% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 506 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 56.8% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in BancFirst in the second quarter valued at $77,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in BancFirst during the first quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in BancFirst in the 1st quarter worth about $137,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price target 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 Price Performance

Shares of BancFirst stock opened at $115.62 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $104.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.18. BancFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $79.99 and a twelve month high of $115.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89 and a beta of 1.03.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.09. The business 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, research analysts anticipate that BancFirst Co. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. BancFirst’s payout ratio is 30.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 22,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.46, for a total value of $2,332,142.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,958,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,880,698.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 22,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.46, for a total value of $2,332,142.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,958,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $522,880,698.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $704,970. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,564 shares of company stock worth $6,831,017 over the last ninety days. 33.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.