Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

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

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $28.26 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.23. The company has a market cap of $401.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Sierra Bancorp has a one year low of $17.37 and a one year high of $31.85.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $52.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.59% and a net margin of 17.91%. On average, research analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.10%.

Insider Transactions at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $85,814.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $343,729.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% during the 1st 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 24.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 14,335 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 1.2% in the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 657,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,707,000 after purchasing an additional 7,515 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $142,000. 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.