BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research cut shares of BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BANF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BancFirst from $123.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded BancFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of BancFirst in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

BancFirst Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANF opened at $111.80 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 0.61. BancFirst has a 12 month low of $101.48 and a 12 month high of $138.77.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.16. BancFirst had a net margin of 25.61% and a return on equity of 13.44%. The business had revenue of $187.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.53 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BancFirst will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BancFirst news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 81,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $9,510,931.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 55,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,483,357.21. This trade represents a 59.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 166,783 shares of company stock worth $19,366,509 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 31.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in BancFirst during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $356,054,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in BancFirst by 13,119.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,709,683 shares of the bank’s stock worth $301,127,000 after buying an additional 2,689,185 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BancFirst during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,723,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of BancFirst in the second quarter worth $17,920,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of BancFirst during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,992,000. 51.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.