Allianz Asset Management GmbH Sells 22,473 Shares of Banner Corporation $BANR

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lessened its holdings in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 17.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 106,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,473 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.31% of Banner worth $6,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Banner by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Banner by 4,612.0% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Banner by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Banner by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Banner during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BANR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Banner in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.40.

Banner Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANR opened at $63.65 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $65.15 and a 200-day moving average of $63.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Banner Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.01 and a twelve month high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $168.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.52 million. Banner had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 10.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.97%.

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.