Short Interest in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Decreases By 10.3%

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 518,400 shares, a decline of 10.3% from the January 15th total of 577,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 113,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of BancFirst from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

BancFirst Stock Down 0.4 %

BANF stock traded down $0.51 during trading on Monday, reaching $119.44. 65,548 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 129,679. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $119.68 and its 200 day moving average is $113.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst has a twelve month low of $81.21 and a twelve month high of $132.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 23.52%. As a group, research analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 24,607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total value of $3,068,492.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 224,499 shares in the company, valued at $27,995,025.30. The trade was a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.97, for a total transaction of $589,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $707,820. This trade represents a 45.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 43,607 shares of company stock valued at $5,377,543. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in BancFirst during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 155.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 314 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 779.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in BancFirst by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 862 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.