Crestline Management LP Makes New Investment in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Crestline Management LP acquired a new stake in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,273 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in BancFirst in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BancFirst by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,306,204 shares of the bank's stock valued at $270,241,000 after acquiring an additional 44,563 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 40.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,276 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,659,000 after acquiring an additional 29,050 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 129,204 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,599,000 after purchasing an additional 32,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 189.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 10,514 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,200,000 after buying an additional 6,886 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company's stock.

BancFirst Trading Up 0.3%

BANF stock traded up $0.37 on Thursday, hitting $128.24. 95,643 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 103,406. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91 and a beta of 0.78. The business's fifty day moving average is $112.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.34. BancFirst Co. has a twelve month low of $81.56 and a twelve month high of $132.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $164.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.72 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 23.52%. As a group, research analysts forecast that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BancFirst news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.13, for a total transaction of $1,191,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 214,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,553,265.87. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 32.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.