BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BANF. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BancFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered BancFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on BancFirst from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

BancFirst Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BANF opened at $110.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. BancFirst has a 12-month low of $101.48 and a 12-month high of $122.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $109.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.65.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $187.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.68 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 32.44% and a return on equity of 13.47%. On average, research analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Rainbolt sold 17,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.06, for a total value of $2,051,519.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,554,000.36. This trade represents a 56.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,336 shares of company stock valued at $3,604,770. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BANF. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in BancFirst by 32.7% during 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 during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in BancFirst by 17.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 7.5% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,549 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,643 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its position in BancFirst by 174.2% during 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 during the period. 51.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.