Intech Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,374 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BANF. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 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. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in BancFirst during the 2nd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in BancFirst during the 3rd quarter worth about $105,000. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BancFirst Stock Performance

NASDAQ BANF opened at $126.28 on Friday. BancFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $132.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.78. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.02.

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

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In related news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 1,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total transaction of $149,290.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 223,402 shares in the company, valued at $23,586,783.16. This trade represents a 0.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 22,114 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.46, for a total transaction of $2,332,142.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,958,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,880,698.70. This trade represents a 0.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 160,468 shares of company stock worth $18,656,436. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.