Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BANR. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Banner in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.40.

Banner Trading Down 1.1%

BANR opened at $61.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.91. Banner has a 12 month low of $54.01 and a 12 month high of $78.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $168.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $171.52 million. Banner had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 10.32%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banner

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banner in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 4,612.0% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banner in the 2nd quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.