Entropy Technologies LP Buys New Holdings in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,902 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 19,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,975 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in BancFirst by 40.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,276 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,659,000 after purchasing an additional 29,050 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 26.2% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 2.2% in the third quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 28,002 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Price Performance

Shares of BancFirst stock opened at $121.78 on Friday. 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 $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.02. BancFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $81.21 and a twelve month high of $129.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.50.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. Analysts forecast that BancFirst Co. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 29.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BancFirst news, EVP Randy Foraker sold 2,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.10, for a total value of $307,377.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $3,075,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 249,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,640,038. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 157,107 shares of company stock worth $17,847,219. Company insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BANF shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

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.