KBC Group NV Grows Position in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 46.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Banner were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BANR. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Banner by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 176,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,491,000 after acquiring an additional 31,328 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Banner by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Banner by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 443,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,389,000 after acquiring an additional 20,978 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of BANR stock opened at $69.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.76. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Banner Co. has a 1-year low of $42.00 and a 1-year high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.11. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. On average, research analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.20.

Banner 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.