Zacks Research Downgrades Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) to Hold

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Bank First National from “strong buy” to “hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $163 average price target.
• Bank First National shares opened at $153.75, near their 52-week high of $159.10. The bank recently reported quarterly EPS of $2.45, exceeding estimates by $0.05, though revenue slightly missed expectations.
• Institutional ownership increased, with BlackRock taking a new $121.9 million stake and other funds adding shares; however, a company director sold 1,848 shares for approximately $287,500.

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Bank First National from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Bank First National from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Bank First National from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $163.00.

Bank First National Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:BFC opened at $153.75 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.02. Bank First National has a 52 week low of $119.08 and a 52 week high of $159.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.41.

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $65.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.25 million. Bank First National had a net margin of 27.70% and a return on equity of 12.48%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank First National will post 9.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank First National

In other news, Director Sistine Peter J. Van sold 1,848 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.57, for a total value of $287,493.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,188,554.80. This represents a 19.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.97% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank First National during the 2nd quarter worth about $121,853,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Bank First National by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 159,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,565,000 after buying an additional 27,953 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Bank First National by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 73,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,864,000 after buying an additional 6,416 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Bank First National in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,340,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Bank First National in the second quarter worth approximately $6,689,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 29.95% of the company's stock.

About Bank First National

Bank First National, operating through Bank First Corporation, is a Wisconsin-based community bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and municipalities. The company offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential mortgages, consumer loans, commercial lending and agricultural financing.

Bank First also provides business banking solutions such as treasury management, cash management, payment services, online and mobile banking, and other commercial financial products.

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