Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on BANR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.83.

Banner Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Banner stock opened at $62.98 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.98. Banner has a twelve month low of $44.59 and a twelve month high of $78.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.03%. The business had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.72 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BANR. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Banner by 122.8% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,142,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,888,000 after purchasing an additional 630,004 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Banner by 10,213.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,371,000 after acquiring an additional 628,426 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Banner by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,619,000 after acquiring an additional 373,037 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Banner in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,023,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Banner by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 398,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,586,000 after purchasing an additional 114,731 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banner Company Profile

Banner Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Banner Bank that engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities in the United States. It accepts various deposit instruments, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as treasury management services and retirement savings plans.