BancFirst Corporation $BANF Shares Bought by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) by 21.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,699 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,986 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in BancFirst were worth $4,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of BancFirst by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 16,173.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,693 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 12,615 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 6.6% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in BancFirst by 15.6% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,489 shares of the bank’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 17,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.06, for a total transaction of $2,051,519.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,554,000.36. This represents a 56.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 153,277 shares of company stock worth $17,813,259. 31.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BancFirst Stock Performance

Shares of BancFirst stock opened at $114.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $113.43 and a 200 day moving average of $112.34. BancFirst Corporation has a 12 month low of $101.48 and a 12 month high of $138.77.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $187.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.53 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 31.96% and a return on equity of 13.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BANF. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BancFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BancFirst from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of BancFirst in a research note on Friday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BancFirst has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation is a regional banking holding company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As the largest state‐chartered bank in Oklahoma, BancFirst offers a comprehensive suite of financial services to individuals, businesses and government entities. Its core business activities include commercial and consumer banking, mortgage lending, treasury management, equipment financing and electronic banking solutions.

The bank operates a network of more than 60 branches across Oklahoma, serving urban centers such as Oklahoma City and Tulsa, as well as rural communities throughout the state.