BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $111.10 and last traded at $110.93, with a volume of 21739 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BANF. StockNews.com downgraded BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd.

BancFirst Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89 and a beta of 1.03.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.09. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.89% and a net margin of 23.46%. The business had revenue of $153.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.75 million. Sell-side analysts expect that BancFirst Co. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. BancFirst’s payout ratio is currently 30.07%.

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In other news, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 10,371 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.02, for a total value of $1,089,162.42. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,944,702 shares in the company, valued at $519,292,604.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 10,371 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.02, for a total transaction of $1,089,162.42. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,944,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,292,604.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dave R. Lopez sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.13, for a total transaction of $102,130.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,564 shares of company stock valued at $7,150,517 in the last 90 days. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BANF. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 557.1% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 506 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 56.8% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 842 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in BancFirst during the second quarter valued at approximately $77,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 3rd quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the first quarter worth about $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Company Profile

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.