BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Director Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) Director David Rainbolt sold 2,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $230,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,323,535.18. This represents a 14.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

BancFirst Trading Down 0.1%

BANF traded down $0.09 on Thursday, hitting $114.03. 68,885 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 150,709. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. BancFirst Corporation has a 12 month low of $101.48 and a 12 month high of $138.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39 and a beta of 0.61.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $187.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.53 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 31.96%. Sell-side analysts expect that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,375,873 shares of the bank’s stock worth $146,537,000 after buying an additional 96,957 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,723,000. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BancFirst by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 168,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,874,000 after purchasing an additional 39,672 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in BancFirst by 73.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 163,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,676,000 after purchasing an additional 69,192 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in BancFirst by 33.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 134,175 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,966,000 after purchasing an additional 33,636 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

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.