BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.46

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 27th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.46 per share by the bank on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th.

BancFirst has increased its dividend by an average of 8.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 31 years. BancFirst has a payout ratio of 27.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect BancFirst to earn $6.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.2%.

BancFirst Stock Performance

Shares of BancFirst stock traded up $3.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $126.21. 50,269 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 104,463. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.11. BancFirst has a 12 month low of $81.56 and a 12 month high of $132.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $164.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.72 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 23.52%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BancFirst will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.13, for a total value of $1,191,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 214,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,553,265.87. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randy Foraker sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.61, for a total value of $506,440.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 32.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BANF. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the 1st quarter valued at $3,646,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 46,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,098,000 after buying an additional 3,433 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,844 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 108.6% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. 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.