Short Interest in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Declines By 5.5%

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 563,800 shares, a drop of 5.5% from the October 15th total of 596,800 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 113,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd.

BancFirst Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of BANF stock opened at $121.78 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.02. 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 $129.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $109.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.56.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.70 million. 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 year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BancFirst news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 18,376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.22, for a total value of $1,951,898.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 223,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,779,896.28. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Randy Foraker sold 2,870 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.10, for a total value of $307,377.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 157,107 shares of company stock worth $17,847,219 over the last ninety days. 33.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of BancFirst by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 482,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,823,000 after purchasing an additional 58,016 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in BancFirst by 94.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,908,000 after buying an additional 27,295 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in BancFirst by 12.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 872,101 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,187,000 after acquiring an additional 96,483 shares during the period. Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in BancFirst during the third quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BancFirst in the third quarter worth about $210,000. Institutional investors own 51.72% 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.