Vonn Christenson Sells 3,947 Shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Vonn Christenson sold 3,947 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $150,183.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,191.45. The trade was a 95.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.29. 85,972 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,506. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $26.49 and a 1 year high of $38.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $487.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.73.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.14. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.67% and a net margin of 22.53%.The company had revenue of $38.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.68 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is 30.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BSRR. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3,714.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 121.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $153,000. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BSRR. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

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.