Champlain Investment Partners LLC Sells 2,796 Shares of BancFirst Corporation $BANF

Key Points

• Champlain Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in BancFirst Corporation by 0.8%, selling 2,796 shares and now holds approximately 1.03% of the company, valued at $37.46 million.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for BancFirst, with an average target now at $134.00, while maintaining a "Hold" rating for the stock.
• BancFirst's recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.85, outperforming estimates, and the stock is currently trading at around $133.85.

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 340,972 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,796 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned about 1.03% of BancFirst worth $37,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mariner LLC raised its position in BancFirst by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,374 shares of the bank's stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BancFirst in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in BancFirst by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,911 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 200.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,846 shares of the bank's stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its holdings in BancFirst by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 10,168 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 1,926 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. DA Davidson increased their price target on BancFirst from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on BancFirst from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $134.00.

BancFirst Stock Performance

Shares of BANF traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $131.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 113,119. BancFirst Corporation has a 1-year low of $97.02 and a 1-year high of $137.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $169.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $163.62 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 24.94%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BancFirst Corporation will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from BancFirst's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BancFirst

In related news, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.29, for a total transaction of $631,450.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $757,740. This trade represents a 45.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 32.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.