BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

BANF has been the topic of several other reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

BancFirst Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BANF traded down $2.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $118.63. The stock had a trading volume of 160,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,612. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.33. BancFirst has a one year low of $81.21 and a one year high of $132.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, research analysts expect that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,971.12. This represents a 87.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,869 shares of company stock worth $14,309,535. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 81.6% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 73,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,554,000 after acquiring an additional 32,800 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in BancFirst by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the fourth quarter worth $660,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 110.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 2,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in BancFirst by 33.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 129,204 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,599,000 after acquiring an additional 32,636 shares during the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.