Banner Corporation $BANR Shares Sold by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lessened its stake in shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 35.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 119,843 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Banner were worth $13,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Banner by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,837,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,439,000 after purchasing an additional 44,249 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Banner by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,158,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,284,000 after purchasing an additional 5,552 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Banner by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,776,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Banner by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,011,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,878,000 after purchasing an additional 165,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC raised its position in shares of Banner by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 749,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,938,000 after purchasing an additional 113,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BANR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Banner in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Banner from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banner presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.00.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANR opened at $67.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Banner Corporation has a 52 week low of $57.05 and a 52 week high of $69.83.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $168.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.60 million. Banner had a net margin of 23.24% and a return on equity of 10.77%. On average, equities analysts predict that Banner Corporation will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This is an increase from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.02%.

Banner Company Profile

Banner Corporation, through its principal subsidiary Banner Bank, operates as a regional commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington. Founded in 2000 as a bank holding company, Banner traces its origins to community banking roots in Eastern Washington dating back to the late 19th century. Over the past two decades, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, establishing a strong presence throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The company offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services for individual and business clients.