Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) EVP Sells $110,987.45 in Stock

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $110,987.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,540.35. This represents a 22.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Sierra Bancorp stock traded down $0.21 on Monday, hitting $30.95. The company had a trading volume of 5,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 46,593. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.91 and a 200-day moving average of $29.51. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $35.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $445.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.92.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.23%. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 35.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSRR. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 24.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 14,335 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 46,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 8,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 74,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BSRR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.