BancFirst Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.46 (NASDAQ:BANF)

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 25th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.46 per share by the bank on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

BancFirst has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 31 years. BancFirst has a payout ratio of 29.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect BancFirst to earn $6.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.1%.

BancFirst Stock Performance

BANF traded up $1.81 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $128.09. The stock had a trading volume of 142,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 85,540. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.65. BancFirst has a 1 year low of $81.21 and a 1 year high of $132.29. The stock has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BANF shares. StockNews.com raised BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In related news, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,971.12. This trade represents a 87.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 24,607 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 224,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,995,025.30. The trade was a 9.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 181,714 shares of company stock valued at $20,915,712. Insiders own 33.89% 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.