Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BMRC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Bank of Marin Bancorp from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research lowered Bank of Marin Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Bank of Marin Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank of Marin Bancorp from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of Marin Bancorp from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.40.

Bank of Marin Bancorp Price Performance

BMRC stock opened at $25.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $418.84 million, a PE ratio of -12.81 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $25.47 and its 200-day moving average is $26.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Bank of Marin Bancorp has a 1 year low of $20.25 and a 1 year high of $28.48.

Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.03). Bank of Marin Bancorp had a negative net margin of 18.58% and a positive return on equity of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $34.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.87 million. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of Marin Bancorp will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Marin Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 7th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Bank of Marin Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is -49.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Marin Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Bank of Marin Bancorp by 2,543.8% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,269 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Bank of Marin Bancorp by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,507 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Marin Bancorp by 124.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,875 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Marin Bancorp by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of Marin Bancorp

Bank of Marin Bancorp is the bank holding company for Bank of Marin, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Novato, California. Through its subsidiary, the company provides a broad range of banking services to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Its operating philosophy emphasizes personalized service and strong local relationships across the San Francisco North Bay region.

The company’s core product offerings include deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market and time certificates of deposit.