Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of BSRR stock opened at $31.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.33 and a 200 day moving average of $26.17. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $35.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.89.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 17.91%. The firm had revenue of $52.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.30 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total transaction of $144,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 313,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,081,462.60. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total transaction of $81,889.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 150,063 shares in the company, valued at $4,838,031.12. This trade represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,056 shares of company stock valued at $244,741. 11.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BSRR. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 16,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 119,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,675,000 after acquiring an additional 3,531 shares during the period. 55.40% of the stock is currently 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.