Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Up 1.0 %

BSRR stock opened at $27.99 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Sierra Bancorp has a twelve month low of $16.75 and a twelve month high of $31.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.75. The stock has a market cap of $408.54 million, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.89.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The company had revenue of $52.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.30 million. Research analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.67%.

Insider Transactions at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $85,814.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $343,729.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $85,814.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $343,729.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Morris A. Tharp sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.26, for a total transaction of $292,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 475,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,900,255.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,366 shares of company stock worth $1,370,158. Insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BSRR. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 66,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after buying an additional 4,900 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after buying an additional 15,080 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $13,737,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $94,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.