Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Hits New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $73.00 and last traded at $72.77, with a volume of 1965 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.18.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Banner’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Banner from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banner has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Banner Stock Down 4.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.23.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $213.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.95 million. Banner had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 20.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Banner Co. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total value of $113,445.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,653,876.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANR. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banner by 79.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,328,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,132,000 after buying an additional 588,591 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Banner by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 795,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,510,000 after acquiring an additional 123,903 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Banner by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 607,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,170,000 after acquiring an additional 109,457 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Banner in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,931,000. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Banner by 35.5% during the first quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 197,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,483,000 after purchasing an additional 51,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

About Banner

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.