Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Sells $20,648.00 in Stock

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $20,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 189 shares in the company, valued at $5,382.72. The trade was a 79.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Up 2.5 %

BSRR stock opened at $29.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $407.47 million, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.78. Sierra Bancorp has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $35.13. 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 (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 19.90%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 35.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BSRR. StockNews.com upgraded Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 321,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,278,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 12.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 194,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,619,000 after purchasing an additional 21,558 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 176,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 28,495 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 131,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 126,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 4,794 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

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.