Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $995,000 Holdings in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Banner were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Banner by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Banner by 21.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 176,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,491,000 after buying an additional 31,328 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 19.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Banner by 18.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 795,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,510,000 after buying an additional 123,903 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 113.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,570,000 after acquiring an additional 38,273 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of BANR opened at $64.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.83 and its 200-day moving average is $53.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Banner Co. has a 12 month low of $41.87 and a 12 month high of $68.11.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $213.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.95 million. Banner had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 20.28%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BANR. DA Davidson upped their target price on Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut Banner from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

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.