BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $111.76 and traded as high as $121.03. BancFirst shares last traded at $120.04, with a volume of 152,092 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BANF has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of BancFirst in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BancFirst from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BancFirst has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.00.

BancFirst Stock Up 2.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $112.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.76. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.59.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $179.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.19 million. BancFirst had a net margin of 25.50% and a return on equity of 13.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. BancFirst’s payout ratio is 26.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 24,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.55, for a total transaction of $2,844,147.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 182,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,030,562.20. This represents a 11.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 58,217 shares of company stock worth $6,719,222 in the last 90 days. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BancFirst

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in BancFirst in the 4th quarter valued at $27,723,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of BancFirst by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,375,873 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,537,000 after acquiring an additional 96,957 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,316,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 73.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 163,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,676,000 after acquiring an additional 69,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BancFirst by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 168,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,874,000 after acquiring an additional 39,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

About BancFirst

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.