BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday.

BancFirst Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of BANF stock traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $128.24. 95,643 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 103,587. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $112.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.34. BancFirst has a 12-month low of $81.56 and a 12-month high of $132.29. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91 and a beta of 0.78.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.09. BancFirst had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 23.52%. The business had revenue of $164.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.72 million. On average, analysts expect that BancFirst will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.84%.

Insider Activity

In other BancFirst news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 214,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,553,265.87. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 32.43% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in BancFirst by 2.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BancFirst by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 484,883 shares of the bank's stock worth $56,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the 4th quarter valued at $26,649,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 46,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in BancFirst by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 109,342 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,813,000 after buying an additional 43,336 shares during the period. 51.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.