BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $130.04 and last traded at $130.04, with a volume of 3300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.28.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BANF. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

BancFirst Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.87 and a 200-day moving average of $100.91.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.18. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The business had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that BancFirst Co. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In related news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 18,376 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.22, for a total transaction of $1,951,898.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 223,874 shares in the company, valued at $23,779,896.28. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Main Street Banking Partners L sold 22,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.46, for a total transaction of $2,332,142.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,958,095 shares in the company, valued at $522,880,698.70. The trade was a 0.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,844 shares of company stock worth $20,608,335 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in BancFirst by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 834 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in BancFirst in the 2nd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in BancFirst during the 3rd quarter worth $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

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.