BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) Short Interest Up 30.0% in December

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 596,900 shares, a growth of 30.0% from the November 30th total of 459,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 95,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BANF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

BancFirst Price Performance

BANF stock traded down $1.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $119.89. The stock had a trading volume of 60,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,068. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27 and a beta of 1.05. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $120.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.03. BancFirst has a 1-year low of $81.21 and a 1-year high of $132.29.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.18. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The business had revenue of $163.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leslie Jeannine Rainbolt sold 2,152 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.47, for a total transaction of $237,731.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,942,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,003,498.50. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total value of $567,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 306,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,833,604. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,150 shares of company stock valued at $15,442,825 in the last three months. 33.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANF. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in BancFirst in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 64.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 834 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BancFirst in the 2nd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in BancFirst in the third quarter valued at $105,000. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.