Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.40.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BANR. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a report on Friday, October 17th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. 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 report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered Banner from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th.

Banner Price Performance

NASDAQ:BANR opened at $60.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.99. Banner has a 12 month low of $54.01 and a 12 month high of $78.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.96. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. Banner had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 21.80%.The firm had revenue of $168.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.52 million. On average, analysts expect that Banner will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is 36.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BANR. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Banner in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banner during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Banner in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Banner by 26.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Banner by 4,612.0% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.