Short Interest in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Decreases By 5.5%

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 563,800 shares, a drop of 5.5% from the October 15th total of 596,800 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 113,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

BancFirst Stock Performance

Shares of BANF traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $121.62. The stock had a trading volume of 61,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 85,269. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $109.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.77. BancFirst has a fifty-two week low of $81.21 and a fifty-two week high of $129.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 1.02.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a boost from BancFirst's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio is 29.58%.

Insider Activity at BancFirst

In related news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 18,376 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.22, for a total transaction of $1,951,898.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 223,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,779,896.28. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.58, for a total transaction of $1,334,532.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $197,971.12. The trade was a 87.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 157,107 shares of company stock valued at $17,847,219. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 50.8% in the third quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 1,702,082 shares of the bank's stock valued at $177,936,000 after purchasing an additional 573,224 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in BancFirst in the third quarter valued at approximately $112,370,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in BancFirst by 12.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 872,101 shares of the bank's stock worth $92,187,000 after purchasing an additional 96,483 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 13.7% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 499.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,614 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,053,000 after acquiring an additional 48,006 shares during the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.