Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stake in BancFirst Corporation $BANF

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) by 16,173.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,693 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 12,615 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in BancFirst were worth $1,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,375,873 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,537,000 after acquiring an additional 96,957 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in BancFirst in the 4th quarter worth $27,723,000. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in 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 holdings in BancFirst by 73.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 163,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,676,000 after purchasing an additional 69,192 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in BancFirst by 33.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 134,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BANF shares. Wall Street Zen raised BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings downgraded BancFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of BancFirst in a report on Friday, June 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

BancFirst Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of BANF stock opened at $116.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 0.59. BancFirst Corporation has a 12-month low of $101.48 and a 12-month high of $138.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $112.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.09.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.16. BancFirst had a net margin of 25.50% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The business had revenue of $187.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.53 million. Equities research analysts predict that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. BancFirst’s payout ratio is 26.85%.

Insider Activity at BancFirst

In related news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 24,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.55, for a total transaction of $2,844,147.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 182,004 shares in the company, valued at $21,030,562.20. The trade was a 11.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 40,040 shares of company stock worth $4,619,565 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Company Profile

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.