Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $33.43 and traded as high as $36.81. Sierra Bancorp shares last traded at $36.60, with a volume of 24,735 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sierra Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.73 million, a PE ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 0.76.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.14. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 12.67%. The business had revenue of $38.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.68 million. On average, research analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.93, for a total transaction of $28,447.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,207.83. This represents a 23.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.93, for a total transaction of $189,650.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 302,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,491,652.10. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $227,478. Corporate insiders own 11.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 733,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,207,000 after purchasing an additional 22,931 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $8,465,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 238,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,085,000 after purchasing an additional 33,048 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 132,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,346,000 after purchasing an additional 6,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 6,432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

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.