Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in BancFirst Corporation $BANF

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,627 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,608 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of BancFirst worth $11,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BANF. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of BancFirst by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,375,873 shares of the bank’s stock worth $146,537,000 after acquiring an additional 96,957 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BancFirst during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,723,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in BancFirst by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 168,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,874,000 after purchasing an additional 39,672 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in BancFirst by 73.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 163,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,676,000 after purchasing an additional 69,192 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in BancFirst by 33.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 134,175 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,966,000 after purchasing an additional 33,636 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BANF. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of BancFirst in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BancFirst from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BancFirst from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BancFirst news, Director David E. Rainbolt sold 9,001 shares of BancFirst stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.11, for a total value of $1,036,105.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 166,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,198,391.13. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,040 shares of company stock worth $4,619,565. 31.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BancFirst Stock Performance

BancFirst stock opened at $116.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $112.86 and its 200 day moving average is $112.09. BancFirst Corporation has a twelve month low of $101.48 and a twelve month high of $138.77.

BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $187.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.53 million. BancFirst had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 25.50%. On average, equities research analysts predict that BancFirst Corporation will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BancFirst Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. BancFirst’s payout ratio is presently 26.45%.

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.