BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. has reduced its stake in BancFirst Corporation by 29.9%, now holding 9,275 shares valued at approximately $1,019,000.
• Institutional ownership of BancFirst stands at 51.72%, with significant activity from other investors, including a 779.4% increase in stake by Sterling Capital Management.
• BancFirst recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, yielding 1.5%, while the company has reported a better-than-expected earnings per share of $1.85 for the last quarter.

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in shares of BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) by 29.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,275 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,962 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in BancFirst were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BANF. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 1.4% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 8,839 shares of the bank's stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,085 shares of the bank's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 13,403 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 38,005 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of BancFirst by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,684 shares of the bank's stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, Director F Ford Drummond sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total value of $620,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $744,720. This trade represents a 45.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Randy Foraker sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.61, for a total transaction of $506,440.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 32.43% of the company's stock.

BancFirst Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ BANF traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $121.03. The company had a trading volume of 59,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,519. The business's 50-day moving average is $125.29 and its 200-day moving average is $119.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 0.76. BancFirst Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.02 and a 52 week high of $137.40.

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

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of BancFirst from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of BancFirst from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st.

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.