BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 518,400 shares, a decrease of 10.3% from the January 15th total of 577,900 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 113,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BancFirst from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BancFirst
Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst
In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 24,607 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 224,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,995,025.30. This trade represents a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total value of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,500. The trade was a 10.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,607 shares of company stock valued at $5,377,543 over the last 90 days. 33.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the 4th quarter valued at $26,649,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in BancFirst in the third quarter valued at $112,370,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in BancFirst in the fourth quarter valued at $11,958,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 872,101 shares of the bank's stock worth $92,187,000 after buying an additional 96,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BancFirst by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 482,785 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,823,000 after acquiring an additional 58,016 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company's stock.
BancFirst Stock Down 1.0 %
Shares of NASDAQ:BANF traded down $1.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $120.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 46,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 115,543. BancFirst has a fifty-two week low of $81.21 and a fifty-two week high of $132.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 1.05.
BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 expect that BancFirst will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
BancFirst Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.
About BancFirst
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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