Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.65 Per Share

Bank First National Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share on Wednesday, January 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 23rd. This is a 8.3% increase from Bank First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60.

Bank First National has raised its dividend by an average of 0.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 10 years. Bank First National has a payout ratio of 31.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Bank First National to earn $10.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.4%.

Bank First National Trading Down 5.7%

NASDAQ:BFC traded down $8.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $139.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 54,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,437. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Bank First National has a 1 year low of $119.08 and a 1 year high of $159.10.

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $75.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.80 million. Bank First National had a net margin of 27.70% and a return on equity of 12.48%. Research analysts expect that Bank First National will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sistine Peter J. Van sold 1,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.57, for a total value of $287,493.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,640 shares in the company, valued at $1,188,554.80. This trade represents a 19.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank First National

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prairie Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Bank First National by 100.4% in the third quarter. Prairie Advisory LLC now owns 74,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,077,000 after acquiring an additional 37,300 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its position in Bank First National by 1,048.3% in the third quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 40,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,015,000 after purchasing an additional 36,900 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Bank First National by 53.8% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Bank First National during the 2nd quarter valued at about $228,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank First National during the 2nd quarter valued at about $424,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 29.95% of the company’s stock.

Bank First National Company Profile

Bank First National, operating as Bank First Corporation (NASDAQ:BFC), is the holding company for Bank First, a community bank headquartered in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The bank provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses and municipalities through locations across Wisconsin.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer loans, residential mortgages, commercial real estate and business lending, agricultural loans, treasury management and online and mobile banking.