Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,536 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,464 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in BancFirst were worth $1,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 48,518 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,685,000 after buying an additional 14,427 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 18,960 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,222,000 after buying an additional 6,318 shares in the last quarter. Crestline Management LP bought a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 4th quarter worth $384,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 4th quarter worth $135,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 18,700 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,191,000 after buying an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company's stock.

BancFirst Stock Up 0.2%

BANF stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $128.50. 79,382 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 103,941. BancFirst Co. has a 12 month low of $81.56 and a 12 month high of $132.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.63. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.09. BancFirst had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 23.52%. The company had revenue of $164.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.72 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BancFirst Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. BancFirst's payout ratio is currently 27.84%.

Insider Activity at BancFirst

In other BancFirst news, Director William Scott Martin sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.13, for a total value of $1,191,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 214,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,553,265.87. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 32.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised BancFirst from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

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.