Short Interest in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Declines By 5.3%

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 713,000 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the July 31st total of 753,200 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 215,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Roberto R. Herencia bought 667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $45.77 per share, with a total value of $30,528.59. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 12,839 shares in the company, valued at $587,641.03. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Banner in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 126.7% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Banner during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Banner Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Banner stock opened at $43.44 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Banner has a twelve month low of $41.57 and a twelve month high of $75.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.69.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.24). Banner had a net margin of 28.30% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The firm had revenue of $150.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.26 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Banner will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 31st. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on BANR shares. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Banner from $58.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.40.

Banner Company Profile

Banner Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Banner Bank that provide 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.