Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) Short Interest Down 13.4% in July

Bank First Co. (NASDAQ:BFC) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 193,900 shares, a drop of 13.4% from the July 15th total of 224,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 24,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.8 days.

Bank First Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Bank First stock traded up $1.30 on Friday, reaching $86.38. The company had a trading volume of 32,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,209. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $870.80 million, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.32. Bank First has a 52-week low of $70.00 and a 52-week high of $96.00.

Bank First (NASDAQ:BFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Bank First had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 32.18%. The business had revenue of $55.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.70 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank First will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank First Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 25th. This is a positive change from Bank First’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Bank First’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank First by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 485,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,118,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Bank First by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 68,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Bank First by 10.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 45,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,792,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Bank First by 167.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 37,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,128,000 after buying an additional 23,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank First in the second quarter worth about $2,560,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 29.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Bank First from $84.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th.

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.