Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BSRR. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BSRR opened at $21.10 on Wednesday. Sierra Bancorp has a 1-year low of $16.30 and a 1-year high of $23.21. The stock has a market cap of $308.06 million, a PE ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.80% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $37.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 4,753 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.29, for a total value of $105,944.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,353 shares in the company, valued at $698,858.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $94,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $122,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $280,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

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.