BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on BancFirst from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson increased their price target on BancFirst from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

BancFirst Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ BANF opened at $118.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. BancFirst has a fifty-two week low of $81.21 and a fifty-two week high of $132.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $121.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 1.06.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.07. BancFirst had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BancFirst will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, EVP Dennis Jay Hannah sold 10,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.58, for a total transaction of $1,334,532.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,564 shares in the company, valued at $197,971.12. The trade was a 87.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William Scott Martin sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $567,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 306,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,833,604. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,869 shares of company stock valued at $14,309,535 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 33.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BancFirst

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in BancFirst in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BancFirst by 33.9% in the 3rd 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. grew its stake in 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 acquired a new stake in BancFirst in the second quarter worth $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the 3rd quarter worth about $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

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.