TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) Downgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James upped their price objective on TriCo Bancshares from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of TriCo Bancshares from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on TriCo Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $42.00.

TriCo Bancshares Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ TCBK opened at $34.17 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.53. TriCo Bancshares has a 12 month low of $28.66 and a 12 month high of $45.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.10.

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.07). TriCo Bancshares had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $131.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.30 million. As a group, analysts forecast that TriCo Bancshares will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TriCo Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from TriCo Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. TriCo Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TriCo Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TCBK. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of TriCo Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $8,000,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,526,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,612,000 after purchasing an additional 86,141 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 282,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,059,000 after purchasing an additional 77,221 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,414,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,801,000 after purchasing an additional 64,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TriCo Bancshares by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 151,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,851,000 after purchasing an additional 35,159 shares in the last quarter. 59.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

TriCo Bancshares Company Profile

TriCo Bancshares operates as a bank holding company for Tri Counties Bank that provides commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides small business loans; real estate mortgage loans, such as residential and commercial loans; consumer loans; mortgage, auto, other vehicle, and personal loans; commercial loans, including agricultural loans; and real estate construction loans.