Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) by 29.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,559 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,509 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in BancFirst were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BANF. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in BancFirst by 87.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 21,296 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 9,936 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in BancFirst by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 95,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,007,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in BancFirst by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,276 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,659,000 after buying an additional 29,050 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of BancFirst by 499.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,053,000 after acquiring an additional 48,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BANF. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.58, for a total transaction of $1,334,532.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,971.12. This trade represents a 87.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 24,607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total transaction of $3,068,492.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 224,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,995,025.30. This represents a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 160,468 shares of company stock valued at $18,656,436. 33.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BancFirst Stock Performance

BANF opened at $126.28 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $113.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.53. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst Co. has a 52-week low of $81.21 and a 52-week high of $132.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $163.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BancFirst Co. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.58%.

BancFirst 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.