Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,493 Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,493 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Banner were worth $9,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BANR. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Banner during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Banner by 100.9% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Banner by 287.1% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in Banner by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banner in the 2nd quarter valued at about $152,000. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Banner

In related news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total value of $113,445.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,653,876.84. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of BANR opened at $72.87 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Banner Co. has a twelve month low of $42.00 and a twelve month high of $77.01. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 1.04.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.12. Banner had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 20.28%. The firm had revenue of $213.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Banner Co. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BANR. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James increased their target price on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.60.

Banner 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.