Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 175,900 shares, a decline of 8.9% from the September 15th total of 193,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 26,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.7 days.

Bank First Stock Performance

Shares of BFC traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $94.07. The stock had a trading volume of 27,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,911. The company has a market cap of $948.32 million, a PE ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Bank First has a fifty-two week low of $70.00 and a fifty-two week high of $96.00.

Bank First (NASDAQ:BFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $58.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.60 million. Bank First had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 32.18%. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank First will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank First Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from Bank First’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Bank First’s payout ratio is currently 20.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Bank First by 65,700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Bank First by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in Bank First during the 1st quarter valued at $232,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in Bank First by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Bank First during the 4th quarter valued at $241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Bank First from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday.

Bank First Company Profile

Bank First Corporation operates as a holding company for Bank First, N.A. that provides consumer and commercial financial services to businesses, professionals, consumers, associations, individuals, and governmental authorities in Wisconsin. It offers checking, savings, money market, cash management, retirement, and health savings accounts; other time deposits; certificates of deposit; and residential mortgage products.