Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Downgraded by StockNews.com

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 0.8 %

Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $22.34 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Sierra Bancorp has a 12 month low of $16.30 and a 12 month high of $23.21. The stock has a market cap of $326.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.91.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $37.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 17.80%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 4,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.29, for a total value of $105,944.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,858.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BSRR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Sierra Bancorp by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 996,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,348 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,737,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,038,000 after buying an additional 15,080 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 77,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 10,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 66,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.