BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BANF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. DA Davidson upped their target price on BancFirst from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st.

BancFirst Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANF opened at $126.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 0.77. BancFirst has a twelve month low of $95.78 and a twelve month high of $137.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.00.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $169.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.62 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 14.38%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BancFirst will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.47%.

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In other BancFirst news, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total value of $620,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $744,720. This trade represents a 45.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Randy Foraker sold 4,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in BancFirst during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 211.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 582 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 779.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in BancFirst in the fourth quarter worth about $135,000. 51.72% of the stock is 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.