Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 701,100 shares, a decline of 16.8% from the October 15th total of 842,300 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 220,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Banner

In other news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total transaction of $113,445.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,653,876.84. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BANR. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Banner in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,025,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Banner by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 717,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,419,000 after acquiring an additional 25,525 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Banner during the 1st quarter worth $247,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the first quarter valued at about $4,931,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Banner during the third quarter valued at about $439,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ BANR traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 142,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,248. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Banner has a 52 week low of $42.00 and a 52 week high of $77.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 1.04.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Banner will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company 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 2.61%. Banner’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

Banner Company Profile

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.