BancFirst Co. (NASDAQ: BANF) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30, there was short interest totaling 641,700 shares, a decrease of 25.1% from the total of 856,600 shares on September 15. Based on an average daily trading volume of 117,700 shares, the day-to-coverage ratio is currently 5.5 days. Currently 3.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

In addition, Executive Vice President Dennis L. Brand bought 5,000 shares in a transaction dated Monday, September 13. The stock was purchased at an average price of $ 54.50 per share, for a total transaction of $ 272,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, accessible through this link. 37.43% of the shares are currently held by insiders of the company.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently changed their holdings to BANFs. FMR LLC increased its position in BancFirst shares by 290.9% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 337,609 shares of the bank valued at $ 21,077,000 after acquiring an additional 251,252 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in BancFirst shares by 872.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 76,150 shares of the bank valued at $ 4,754,000 after purchasing an additional 68,317 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in BancFirst shares by 68.2% in the second quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 134,717 shares of the bank valued at $ 8,410,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in BancFirst shares by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 802,857 shares of the bank valued at $ 50,395,000 after purchasing an additional 54,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in BancFirst shares in the 1st quarter for a value of approximately $ 3,617,000. Institutional investors hold 37.57% of the company’s shares.

A number of brokerage firms have weighed on BANF. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on BancFirst shares in a research note on Monday, July 19. Zacks Investment Research upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “custody” rating in a research note on Friday, August 13.

BANF shares traded down $ 0.34 at midday on Monday, reaching $ 63.35. The stock had a trade volume of 1,019 shares, compared to an average volume of 99,964. The company has a market cap of $ 2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s fifty-day simple moving average is $ 58.19 and its two-hundred-day simple moving average is $ 63.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02, and a debt ratio of 0.08. BancFirst has a minimum of $ 42.10 over 52 weeks and a maximum of $ 77.38 over 52 weeks.

BancFirst (NASDAQ: BANF) last released its results on Monday, July 19. The bank announced EPS of $ 1.45 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $ 1.13 by $ 0.32. The company posted revenue of $ 126.98 million in the quarter, compared to analysts’ estimates of $ 114.60 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 30.54%. Stock analysts expect BancFirst to post earnings per share of 4.95 for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 15. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 30, received a dividend of $ 0.36. This is a positive change from BancFirst’s previous quarterly dividend of $ 0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 29. This represents an annualized dividend of $ 1.44 and a dividend yield of 2.27%. BancFirst’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.00%.

About BancFirst

BancFirst Corp. is a banking holding company providing retail and commercial banking services. Its services include: commercial, real estate, agricultural and consumer loans; deposit and money transfer services; collections; safes; cash management services; retail brokerage services; and other services tailored to individual and corporate clients.

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