SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 5,524 Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 53.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 816.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Banner during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.83.

Banner Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANR opened at $63.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.03. Banner Corporation has a twelve month low of $46.40 and a twelve month high of $78.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.72 million. Banner had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 9.95%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Banner’s 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.