Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 353 Shares of BancFirst Corporation $BANF

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,861 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in BancFirst were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BancFirst by 5.6% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in BancFirst by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 63,235 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,948,000 after purchasing an additional 13,704 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in BancFirst in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,912,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in BancFirst by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 19,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co purchased a new stake in BancFirst during the 1st quarter valued at $213,000. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BANF stock opened at $132.97 on Tuesday. BancFirst Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.02 and a 1 year high of $137.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 0.79.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.18. BancFirst had a net margin of 24.94% and a return on equity of 14.16%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.62 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that BancFirst Corporation will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In related news, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.29, for a total transaction of $631,450.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $757,740. The trade was a 45.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 32.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. DA Davidson raised their price target on BancFirst from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on BancFirst from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, BancFirst presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.00.

BancFirst 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.