BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Hits New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

Shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $116.30 and last traded at $117.82, with a volume of 125056 shares. The stock had previously closed at $119.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of BancFirst from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

BancFirst Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50 day moving average price is $111.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 during 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $25,553,265.87. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Darryl Schmidt sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.06, for a total value of $610,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,317,421.84. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,404,500 in the last 90 days. 32.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,306,204 shares of the bank's stock valued at $270,241,000 after purchasing an additional 44,563 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 484,883 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,832,000 after buying an additional 2,098 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in BancFirst in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,649,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 175,457 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,560,000 after acquiring an additional 46,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 109,342 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,813,000 after acquiring an additional 43,336 shares during the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.