Banner Corporation $BANR Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 15.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,713 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Banner were worth $1,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banner by 4.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,439,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,776,000 after buying an additional 59,653 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in Banner by 122.8% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,142,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,888,000 after acquiring an additional 630,004 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banner by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 866,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,619,000 after acquiring an additional 3,921 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Banner by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 845,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,936,000 after acquiring an additional 88,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Banner in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,078,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Stock Up 2.9%

BANR stock opened at $62.31 on Monday. Banner Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.01 and a 12 month high of $78.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.00.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. Banner had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The company had revenue of $168.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.52 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BANR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Friday, October 17th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Banner from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Banner from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.40.

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.