BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 126,594 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 8% from the previous session’s volume of 137,779 shares.The stock last traded at $112.1680 and had previously closed at $110.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on BANF shares. Weiss Ratings lowered BancFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of BancFirst in a report on Friday, June 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

BancFirst Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.36. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $179.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.19 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 25.50%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is 26.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 24,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.55, for a total transaction of $2,844,147.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 182,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,030,562.20. This represents a 11.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,217 shares of company stock valued at $6,719,223. Corporate insiders own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BANF. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 4th quarter worth $27,723,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,375,873 shares of the bank’s stock worth $146,537,000 after buying an additional 96,957 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 4th quarter worth $8,316,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 73.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 163,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,676,000 after buying an additional 69,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 168,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,874,000 after buying an additional 39,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

BancFirst Company 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.