Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) Short Interest Update

Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 162,200 shares, a drop of 11.0% from the October 31st total of 182,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 18,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.7 days.

Bank First Stock Performance

Shares of BFC opened at $106.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Bank First has a 1 year low of $74.90 and a 1 year high of $110.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.29.

Bank First (NASDAQ:BFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $58.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.60 million. Bank First had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 32.02%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank First will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank First Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Bank First’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Bank First’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Bank First from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank First

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Bank First by 65,700.0% in 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 last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Bank First by 5.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in shares of Bank First during the first quarter worth approximately $232,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bank First in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Bank First by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.95% of the company’s stock.

About Bank First

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.