Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Short Interest Update

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 144,600 shares, a growth of 11.0% from the July 15th total of 130,300 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 35,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BSRR shares. Janney Montgomery Scott cut Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Insider Transactions at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 11,660 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.45, for a total transaction of $331,727.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,005.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Sierra Bancorp news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.36, for a total value of $36,259.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,736. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 11,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.45, for a total value of $331,727.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,005.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,268 shares of company stock valued at $1,284,343 over the last quarter. 11.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 996,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,348 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,737,000 after acquiring an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 1.2% during the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 657,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,707,000 after acquiring an additional 7,515 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after acquiring an additional 15,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 119,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,675,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares during the period. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $28.31 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $413.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.41. Sierra Bancorp has a one year low of $16.75 and a one year high of $31.85.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $51.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. Equities analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 38.02%.

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.