Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $77.80 and last traded at $77.39, with a volume of 8273 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BANR shares. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 target price on Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banner currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.60.

Banner Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.66.

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

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Banner’s payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banner

In other news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total value of $113,445.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,653,876.84. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Banner

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Banner by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,073,000 after acquiring an additional 11,808 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Banner by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 37,390 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Banner by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,785,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,434 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Banner during the 3rd quarter worth about $554,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Banner by 3.0% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

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.