Alpine Global Management LLC Acquires New Position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,890 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $807,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 155.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 314 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in BancFirst by 779.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in BancFirst by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 862 shares of the bank's stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in BancFirst in the 4th quarter worth about $135,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in BancFirst by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the bank's stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. 51.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

BancFirst Price Performance

NASDAQ BANF traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $126.15. The company had a trading volume of 91,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 104,577. BancFirst Co. has a 52 week low of $81.56 and a 52 week high of $132.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 0.78.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $164.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.72 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 23.52%. Equities research analysts expect that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Randy Foraker sold 4,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.61, for a total value of $506,440.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 32.43% of the company's stock.

BancFirst 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.