BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Short Interest Down 7.3% in November

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 459,000 shares, a decline of 7.3% from the November 15th total of 495,100 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 117,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price target on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

BancFirst Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BANF opened at $123.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. BancFirst has a 1 year low of $81.21 and a 1 year high of $132.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $119.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.20.

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

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.58, for a total transaction of $1,334,532.94. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $3,075,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 249,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,640,038. The trade was a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,150 shares of company stock valued at $15,442,825. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in 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 period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the bank’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,993 shares of the bank’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 2.3% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 7,943 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

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.