Wall Street Zen Downgrades Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) to Sell

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BANR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of Banner stock opened at $61.61 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.52. Banner has a 1-year low of $44.90 and a 1-year high of $78.05. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.90.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banner

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Banner by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,379,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,111,000 after purchasing an additional 49,457 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Banner during the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Banner by 816.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 10,213.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,371,000 after acquiring an additional 628,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Banner by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 134,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,951,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

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.