Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $158.25 and last traded at $157.92, with a volume of 2061 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $156.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Bank First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank First National from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank First National from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank First National from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Bank First National from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.00.

Bank First National Trading Up 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $148.52 and a 200 day moving average of $143.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.05. Bank First National had a net margin of 27.70% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The company had revenue of $65.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.25 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank First National Corporation will post 9.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. This is a positive change from Bank First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Bank First National’s payout ratio is currently 28.61%.

Institutional Trading of Bank First National

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank First National during the second quarter worth $121,853,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank First National by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 598,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,948,000 after buying an additional 10,052 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Bank First National by 2,452,855.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 490,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,764,000 after buying an additional 490,571 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank First National by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 247,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,127,000 after buying an additional 8,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Bank First National by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 159,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,565,000 after buying an additional 27,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.95% of the company’s stock.

About Bank First National

Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ: BFC) is the bank holding company for Bank First National, a community bank headquartered in Princeton, Wisconsin. The company offers a comprehensive suite of financial services designed to meet the needs of individuals, families, small businesses and agricultural clients. Through its branch network and digital channels, Bank First National provides deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage financing and treasury management solutions.

The bank’s core deposit products include checking and savings accounts, money market funds and certificates of deposit, complemented by online and mobile banking platforms that enable customers to manage their finances remotely.