Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,187,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,988 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Banner worth $224,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Banner by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,257,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,934,000 after purchasing an additional 62,774 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Banner by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 988,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,940,000 after buying an additional 21,447 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Banner by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 820,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,947,000 after buying an additional 70,143 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banner by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 700,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,506,000 after acquiring an additional 20,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Banner by 247.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 641,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,370,000 after acquiring an additional 456,868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ BANR opened at $49.22 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.10. Banner Co. has a one year low of $39.31 and a one year high of $55.66. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.06.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Banner had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 21.62%. The firm had revenue of $144.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.67 million. Analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 8th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Banner from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Banner from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Banner from $54.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.20.

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.