Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock Price Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $38.88 and traded as high as $39.43. Sierra Bancorp shares last traded at $39.32, with a volume of 40,860 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSRR has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Sierra Bancorp from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Monday, September 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $504.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.76.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.12). Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 22.37% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business had revenue of $38.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.59 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,249,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $17,865,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,576,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 32.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 344,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,673,000 after purchasing an additional 85,098 shares during the period. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $7,503,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp is the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in California. Through Bank of the Sierra, the company provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses, agricultural customers and public entities.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer and business loans, residential and commercial real estate financing, agricultural lending, treasury management and online and mobile banking.