Sierra Bancorp $BSRR Shares Acquired by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 344,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,098 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Sierra Bancorp were worth $11,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 733,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,207,000 after purchasing an additional 22,931 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Sierra Bancorp by 16.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 238,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,085,000 after buying an additional 33,048 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sierra Bancorp by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 132,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,346,000 after buying an additional 6,432 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 98,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after buying an additional 15,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,614,000 after buying an additional 6,432 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR opened at $40.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.39. Sierra Bancorp has a 1-year low of $26.49 and a 1-year high of $43.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $524.75 million, a PE ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 0.77.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $38.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.59 million. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 22.37% and a return on equity of 12.38%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BSRR. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sierra Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

Insider Transactions at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.21, for a total transaction of $382,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,252.01. This represents a 31.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Christopher G. Treece sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total transaction of $381,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,647.10. This represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $954,108 over the last ninety days. 11.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ: BSRR) is a bank holding company headquartered in Porterville, California. The company operates through its banking subsidiary, offering a full suite of financial services to individual and commercial clients. With a community-focused approach, Sierra Bancorp emphasizes relationship banking and local market expertise.

Its core business activities include deposit-taking and lending. On the deposit side, Sierra Bancorp provides checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts.