Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $161.00.

BFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Bank First National from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bank First National from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of Bank First National from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank First National from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Bank First National from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank First National by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 598,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,948,000 after acquiring an additional 10,052 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Bank First National by 2,452,855.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 490,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,764,000 after acquiring an additional 490,571 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank First National by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 247,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,127,000 after purchasing an additional 8,308 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Bank First National by 21.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 159,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,565,000 after purchasing an additional 27,953 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Bank First National by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 73,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,864,000 after purchasing an additional 6,416 shares during the period. 29.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank First National Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ BFC opened at $146.37 on Thursday. Bank First National has a 12 month low of $115.29 and a 12 month high of $154.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 0.41.

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $75.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.40 million. Bank First National had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 27.70%. Research analysts forecast that Bank First National will post 9.69 EPS for the current year.

Bank First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Bank First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Bank First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.60%.

About Bank First National

Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ: BFC) is the bank holding company for Bank First National, a community bank headquartered in Princeton, Wisconsin. The company offers a comprehensive suite of financial services designed to meet the needs of individuals, families, small businesses and agricultural clients. Through its branch network and digital channels, Bank First National provides deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage financing and treasury management solutions.

The bank’s core deposit products include checking and savings accounts, money market funds and certificates of deposit, complemented by online and mobile banking platforms that enable customers to manage their finances remotely.