BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• BancFirst exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.97 versus the $1.94 consensus estimate. The bank posted a 25.61% net margin and 13.44% return on equity.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.49 to $0.52 per share, equivalent to $2.08 annually and a 1.9% yield.
• Shares fell 0.4% to $109.73, while analysts maintained a generally cautious outlook: one Buy rating and three Holds, with an average price target of $123.00. Insiders sold roughly $19.4 million in stock over the past 90 days.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.03, Zacks reports. BancFirst had a net margin of 25.61% and a return on equity of 13.44%.

BancFirst Stock Down 0.4%

BANF traded down $0.43 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $109.73. The stock had a trading volume of 99,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,260. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. BancFirst has a twelve month low of $101.48 and a twelve month high of $122.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 0.65.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from BancFirst's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. BancFirst's payout ratio is 28.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BANF. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BancFirst from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of BancFirst from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of BancFirst from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BancFirst has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Rainbolt sold 81,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $9,510,931.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 55,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,483,357.21. This represents a 59.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 166,783 shares of company stock worth $19,366,509 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 31.67% of the company's stock.

BancFirst Company Profile

BancFirst Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Through its principal subsidiary, BancFirst, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, agricultural customers and public-sector organizations.

BancFirst's services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial loans, real estate financing, treasury management, online and mobile banking, and other deposit and lending products. The company also offers trust and wealth-management services, including investment management, fiduciary services and retirement-related solutions.

BancFirst serves customers through a statewide network of banking locations and electronic banking channels, with a focus on communities throughout Oklahoma.

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