Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) released its earnings results on Monday. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.72, Zacks reports. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 10.48%.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

BSRR stock opened at $29.82 on Monday. Sierra Bancorp has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $35.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $429.10 million, a P/E ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.10%.

Insider Transactions at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total value of $144,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at $9,081,462.60. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total transaction of $81,889.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,838,031.12. The trade was a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,056 shares of company stock worth $244,741 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BSRR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday.

About Sierra Bancorp

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.