Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 10,400 Shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 985,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,400 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.07% of Sierra Bancorp worth $22,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BSRR. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,038,000 after acquiring an additional 15,080 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,737,000 after acquiring an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $94,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BSRR. StockNews.com cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.36, for a total transaction of $36,259.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,736. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Sierra Bancorp news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $85,814.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,729.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,235 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.36, for a total value of $36,259.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,736. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,366 shares of company stock valued at $1,370,158. Insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BSRR opened at $27.45 on Friday. Sierra Bancorp has a 12-month low of $16.75 and a 12-month high of $31.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $400.66 million, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.82.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The firm had revenue of $51.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is 39.67%.

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.