Rafferty Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,438 Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 41,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Banner were worth $2,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Banner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Banner by 167.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Banner by 816.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Banner by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Banner by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BANR has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.83.

Banner Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Banner stock opened at $64.76 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.02. Banner Co. has a 1 year low of $44.59 and a 1 year high of $78.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Banner Co. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is 37.72%.

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.