Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Banner in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Banner from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Banner from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.40.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of BANR opened at $62.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.79. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.91. Banner has a 12-month low of $54.01 and a 12-month high of $78.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $168.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.52 million. Banner had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 21.80%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Banner will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This is an increase from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.97%.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BANR. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Banner by 1.3% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Banner by 19.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Banner by 13.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Banner by 5.0% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, F m Investments LLC grew its stake in Banner by 0.3% in the second quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 83,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,357,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

About Banner

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.