BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BANF. Wall Street Zen upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on BancFirst from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on BancFirst from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.00.

BancFirst Price Performance

BANF stock opened at $135.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst has a 52-week low of $97.02 and a 52-week high of $138.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $129.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.79.

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

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This is an increase from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.47%.

Insider Transactions at BancFirst

In other BancFirst news, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.29, for a total transaction of $631,450.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 32.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in BancFirst by 548.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in BancFirst during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in BancFirst by 957.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in BancFirst by 108.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in BancFirst by 211.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 582 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.