BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

BancFirst Stock Down 0.3 %

BANF traded down $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $112.78. The company had a trading volume of 176,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 91,181. BancFirst has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $132.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $118.13 and a 200-day moving average of $115.01.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 EPS 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, analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. BancFirst's payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,174,500. The trade was a 10.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.13, for a total value of $1,191,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 214,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,553,265.87. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock worth $3,500,350. 33.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 155.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 314 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BancFirst by 779.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the bank's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake 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. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in BancFirst during the 4th quarter worth about $135,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the bank's stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company's stock.

About BancFirst

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.