Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $28.64 and traded as high as $29.40. Sierra Bancorp shares last traded at $28.65, with a volume of 24,057 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BSRR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sierra Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 1.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $389.35 million, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.64.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $39.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.47 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 20.09%. On average, research analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.60%.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 9,193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.41, for a total transaction of $261,173.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,263.69. This represents a 51.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.25, for a total value of $28,548.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,044.25. The trade was a 23.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSRR. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 13,970.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 14,948 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $960,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 138.3% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 25,508 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $458,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $282,000. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.