BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANFFree Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday.

BANF has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Read Our Latest Research Report on BANF

BancFirst Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ BANF opened at $118.63 on Friday. BancFirst has a 52 week low of $81.21 and a 52 week high of $132.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $121.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 1.06.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANFGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, research analysts expect that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,500. This represents a 10.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $567,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 306,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,833,604. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,448 shares of company stock valued at $11,604,177 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BANF. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 50.8% during the third quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 1,702,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,936,000 after purchasing an additional 573,224 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in BancFirst by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 872,101 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,187,000 after buying an additional 96,483 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 482,785 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,823,000 after acquiring an additional 58,016 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 16.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 192,320 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,242,000 after acquiring an additional 26,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 33.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 129,204 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,599,000 after acquiring an additional 32,636 shares in the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BancFirst

(Get Free Report)

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 BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments.

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