Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Short Interest Down 19.7% in April

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 705,100 shares, a drop of 19.7% from the March 31st total of 878,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 199,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BANR. CWM LLC increased its position in Banner by 923.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Banner during the third quarter valued at $690,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Banner in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 33.3% in the third quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 7.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 13,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of BANR stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 109,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,197. Banner has a 52-week low of $39.31 and a 52-week high of $55.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BANR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Banner from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Stephens dropped their target price on Banner from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Banner from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Banner from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Banner from $54.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.20.

Banner Company Profile

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.