Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) Short Interest Down 11.0% in November

Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 162,200 shares, a decrease of 11.0% from the October 31st total of 182,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank First

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BFC. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank First by 339.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 12,081 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Bank First by 3.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 222,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,158,000 after acquiring an additional 7,922 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank First by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,701,000 after acquiring an additional 7,822 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank First by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 47,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,339,000 after acquiring an additional 7,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank First during the 3rd quarter worth about $306,000. 29.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Bank First from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Bank First Stock Performance

Shares of BFC traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $106.25. The stock had a trading volume of 2,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,316. Bank First has a 12 month low of $74.90 and a 12 month high of $110.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $96.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.34.

Bank First (NASDAQ:BFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $58.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.60 million. Bank First had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 32.02%. Analysts anticipate that Bank First will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Bank First Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Bank First’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Bank First’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.66%.

About Bank First

Bank First Corporation operates as a holding company for Bank First, N.A. that provides consumer and commercial financial services to businesses, professionals, consumers, associations, individuals, and governmental authorities in Wisconsin. It offers checking, savings, money market, cash management, retirement, and health savings accounts; other time deposits; certificates of deposit; and residential mortgage products.