BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Share Price Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $111.67 and traded as high as $113.90. BancFirst shares last traded at $113.35, with a volume of 114,678 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BANF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded BancFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of BancFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BancFirst from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

BancFirst Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $109.40 and a 200-day moving average of $111.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.62.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.03. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $187.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.68 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 27.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In related news, Director David Rainbolt sold 8,506 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $978,190.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in BancFirst during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 174.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in BancFirst in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 442 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in BancFirst by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Company Profile

BancFirst Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Through its principal subsidiary, BancFirst, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, agricultural customers and public-sector organizations.

BancFirst’s services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial loans, real estate financing, treasury management, online and mobile banking, and other deposit and lending products. The company also offers trust and wealth-management services, including investment management, fiduciary services and retirement-related solutions.

BancFirst serves customers through a statewide network of banking locations and electronic banking channels, with a focus on communities throughout Oklahoma.