Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on BANR. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Banner Trading Down 0.5%

Banner stock opened at $61.83 on Wednesday. Banner has a fifty-two week low of $44.59 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.03%. The company had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Banner will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Banner’s payout ratio is 37.72%.

Institutional Trading of Banner

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BANR. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Banner during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Banner in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Banner by 167.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Banner by 53.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas lifted its holdings in Banner by 69.1% in the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.