BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Short Interest Down 5.5% in October

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 563,800 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the October 15th total of 596,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 113,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

BancFirst Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ BANF opened at $121.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.02. BancFirst has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $129.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.56.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $163.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BancFirst will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 1,391 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.01, for a total value of $146,068.91. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 215,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,579,670.24. This trade represents a 0.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $567,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 306,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,833,604. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 157,107 shares of company stock worth $17,847,219 in the last three months. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in BancFirst by 33.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of BancFirst by 64.8% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 834 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 842 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,000. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of BancFirst from $84.50 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd.

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.