Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Buys 1,284 Shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) by 33.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,137 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in BancFirst were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BANF. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of BancFirst by 87.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 21,296 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 9,936 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 95,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,007,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in BancFirst by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,276 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,659,000 after buying an additional 29,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in BancFirst by 499.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,053,000 after acquiring an additional 48,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 1,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total value of $149,290.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 223,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,586,783.16. This trade represents a 0.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $567,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 306,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,833,604. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,844 shares of company stock worth $20,608,335. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BancFirst Stock Performance

BancFirst stock opened at $127.23 on Wednesday. BancFirst Co. has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $132.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.91.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.18. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The firm had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. As a group, analysts expect that BancFirst Co. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. BancFirst’s payout ratio is currently 29.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BANF shares. StockNews.com raised BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

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.