Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 261,493 BancFirst Corporation $BANF

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 261,493 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $27,723,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.78% of BancFirst as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 49.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,208 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,717,000 after acquiring an additional 14,947 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 37.6% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 62,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,916,000 after acquiring an additional 17,092 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 18.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 80,535 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,184,000 after acquiring an additional 12,535 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 14.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,333,000 after acquiring an additional 14,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of BancFirst by 1,012.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 10,668 shares during the last quarter. 51.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BancFirst news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 9,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.11, for a total value of $1,036,105.11. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 166,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,198,391.13. This trade represents a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 58,217 shares of company stock valued at $6,719,223 over the last three months. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BancFirst Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANF opened at $112.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $111.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.23. BancFirst Corporation has a 1-year low of $101.48 and a 1-year high of $138.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 0.59.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.08. BancFirst had a net margin of 25.50% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The firm had revenue of $179.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BANF shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of BancFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of BancFirst in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

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.