Versor Investments LP Invests $439,000 in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Banner during the 1st quarter worth $1,025,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banner by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 717,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,419,000 after buying an additional 25,525 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the 1st quarter worth about $247,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the 1st quarter worth about $4,931,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Banner by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 28,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,383,000 after buying an additional 7,467 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total transaction of $113,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,653,876.84. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Banner Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BANR stock opened at $73.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 1.04. Banner Co. has a 1-year low of $42.00 and a 1-year high of $77.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.21.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $213.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.95 million. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Banner Co. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BANR shares. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Banner from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 target price on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.