BlackRock Inc. Makes New Investment in Sierra Bancorp $BSRR

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 6,344,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,473,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 0.49% of Sierra Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 71.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 10,046 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $784,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 60,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after acquiring an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.21, for a total value of $382,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 21,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,252.01. This represents a 31.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BSRR. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR opened at $39.49 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.92. The stock has a market cap of $511.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.77. Sierra Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.49 and a fifty-two week high of $43.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.12). Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 22.37%.The firm had revenue of $38.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.59 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

About Sierra Bancorp

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.