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

by · The Cerbat Gem

BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ:BANF – Get Free Report) saw 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. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 95,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,833,604. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dennis L. Brand sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,500. This trade represents a 10.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,150 shares of company stock valued at $15,442,825. 33.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BancFirst

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANF. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in BancFirst by 33.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in BancFirst by 64.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 834 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 3rd quarter valued at about $105,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BANF shares. StockNews.com upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on BANF

BancFirst Price Performance

Shares of BANF traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.89. 60,795 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 86,068. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst has a 1 year low of $81.21 and a 1 year high of $132.29. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $120.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.86.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.18. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 23.52%. The business had revenue of $163.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BancFirst will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.58%.

BancFirst Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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