Fifth Third Bancorp Has $1.38 Million Stake in BancFirst Corporation $BANF

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp sharply increased its stake in BancFirst, boosting its holdings by 16,173.1% in Q1 to 12,693 shares valued at about $1.38 million.
• Analysts are broadly cautious on BancFirst, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $124; Weiss Ratings recently downgraded the stock to hold.
• BancFirst reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.96 versus the $1.80 estimate, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share.

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) by 16,173.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,693 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 12,615 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in BancFirst were worth $1,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BANF. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of BancFirst by 531.4% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 221 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of BancFirst by 47.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 295 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BancFirst by 957.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut BancFirst from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of BancFirst in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $124.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 24,614 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.55, for a total value of $2,844,147.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 182,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,030,562.20. The trade was a 11.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,040 shares of company stock worth $4,619,565. 31.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BancFirst Stock Performance

BancFirst stock opened at $116.58 on Friday. BancFirst Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $101.48 and a fifty-two week high of $138.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $112.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.09.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.16. BancFirst had a net margin of 25.50% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $187.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.53 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. BancFirst's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.85%.

BancFirst Profile

BancFirst Corporation is a regional banking holding company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As the largest state‐chartered bank in Oklahoma, BancFirst offers a comprehensive suite of financial services to individuals, businesses and government entities. Its core business activities include commercial and consumer banking, mortgage lending, treasury management, equipment financing and electronic banking solutions.

The bank operates a network of more than 60 branches across Oklahoma, serving urban centers such as Oklahoma City and Tulsa, as well as rural communities throughout the state.

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