BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the bank on Tuesday, January 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 28th.

BancFirst has raised its dividend by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 30 consecutive years. BancFirst has a dividend payout ratio of 31.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect BancFirst to earn $5.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.6%.

BancFirst Stock Performance

Shares of BANF stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $87.05. The stock had a trading volume of 44,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 92,703. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. BancFirst has a 1-year low of $68.44 and a 1-year high of $104.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $84.94 and its 200-day moving average is $89.49.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The bank reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $148.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.75 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 28.26% and a return on equity of 16.74%. On average, research analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BancFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,401,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 4.0% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,978,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $274,050,000 after purchasing an additional 115,715 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 179.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 145,446 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,103,000 after purchasing an additional 93,365 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its position in BancFirst by 165.3% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 113,818 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,183,000 after buying an additional 70,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in BancFirst by 7.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 853,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,343,000 after buying an additional 58,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BANF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of BancFirst from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on BancFirst in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on BancFirst from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through Metropolitan Banks, Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments.