BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of BancFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BancFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. 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 MarketBeat, BancFirst has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

BancFirst Trading Up 2.8%

BancFirst stock opened at $113.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $109.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 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 has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 0.65.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $187.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.68 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 32.44%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. BancFirst’s payout ratio is currently 27.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, Director David Rainbolt sold 8,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $978,190.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,553,250. Company insiders own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 1.9% in the third quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 912,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $97,071,000 after acquiring an additional 16,775 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in BancFirst by 2,761.9% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 88,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,292,000 after purchasing an additional 85,178 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its holdings in BancFirst by 174.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in BancFirst by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the bank’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BancFirst by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,549 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is owned by 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.