Sterling Capital Management LLC Acquires 964 Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 816.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Banner were worth $72,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BANR. F M Investments LLC boosted its stake in Banner by 912.9% in the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 60,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 54,298 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 134,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,951,000 after buying an additional 2,637 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Banner by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Banner by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 3,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Banner by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 25,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 6,097 shares during the period. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BANR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Banner in a report on Monday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of Banner stock opened at $61.75 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.94. Banner Co. has a 12 month low of $43.63 and a 12 month high of $78.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.72%.

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.