Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Vonn R. Christenson Sells 725 Shares

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total transaction of $20,648.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382.72. The trade was a 79.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $28.40. 7,163 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 45,273. Sierra Bancorp has a twelve month low of $17.69 and a twelve month high of $35.13. 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 firm has a market cap of $396.58 million, a P/E ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.80.

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

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.59%.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BSRR. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,818,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $1,146,000. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 176,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 28,495 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 301.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 28,426 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 89,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after purchasing an additional 23,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BSRR. StockNews.com raised Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

About Sierra Bancorp

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.