Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $73.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BANR. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Banner presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Banner Stock Performance

Banner stock opened at $61.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Banner has a fifty-two week low of $43.63 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $63.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.08.

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

Banner Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.72%.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Banner by 10,213.3% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,371,000 after purchasing an additional 628,426 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Banner by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,619,000 after buying an additional 373,037 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Banner in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,023,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Banner by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 398,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,586,000 after acquiring an additional 114,731 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the 4th quarter worth $6,075,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

About Banner

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.