Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Short Interest Up 5.6% in March

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 878,500 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the March 15th total of 832,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 198,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANR. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banner by 126.7% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banner during the third quarter worth $25,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banner during the second quarter worth $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Banner during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banner by 35,800.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banner Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ BANR opened at $43.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Banner has a 1-year low of $39.31 and a 1-year high of $55.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.36 and a 200-day moving average of $46.45. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 1.03.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.03. Banner had a net margin of 24.61% and a return on equity of 12.96%. The business had revenue of $152.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.54 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Banner will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Banner from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Banner from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.75.

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.