Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.00.

BANR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price target on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 target price on Banner in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Banner Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Banner stock opened at $70.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. Banner has a one year low of $42.00 and a one year high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.12. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.22%. The firm had revenue of $213.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Banner will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Banner news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total transaction of $113,445.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,653,876.84. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banner

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Banner by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,361,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,236,000 after buying an additional 37,780 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Banner by 12.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,785,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,334,000 after acquiring an additional 193,434 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Banner by 3.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,330,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,219,000 after purchasing an additional 43,398 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Banner by 79.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,328,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,132,000 after purchasing an additional 588,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Banner by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,073,000 after purchasing an additional 11,808 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

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.