Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Julie G. Castle Sells 1,104 Shares

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $35,328.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,024. The trade was a 20.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.30. The company had a trading volume of 20,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,528. The firm has a market capitalization of $450.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.49. Sierra Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $17.69 and a fifty-two week high of $35.13.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 19.90%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BSRR. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 301.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 12,690 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 65,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 19,025 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 9.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 16,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 12.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 194,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,619,000 after acquiring an additional 21,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BSRR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.