Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $35.70 and traded as high as $40.39. Sierra Bancorp shares last traded at $39.31, with a volume of 95,202 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSRR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research cut Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $531.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.81.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.14. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 12.67%. The firm had revenue of $38.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.68 million. Research analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 30.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 3,947 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $150,183.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,191.45. The trade was a 95.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.21, for a total value of $382,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $832,252.01. This trade represents a 31.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $954,108 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSRR. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3,714.3% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 57.7% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 121.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $153,000. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ: BSRR) is a bank holding company headquartered in Porterville, California. The company operates through its banking subsidiary, offering a full suite of financial services to individual and commercial clients. With a community-focused approach, Sierra Bancorp emphasizes relationship banking and local market expertise.

Its core business activities include deposit-taking and lending. On the deposit side, Sierra Bancorp provides checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts.