Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $36.38 and traded as high as $41.10. Sierra Bancorp shares last traded at $40.77, with a volume of 28,176 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BSRR. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a 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 $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $537.33 million, a P/E ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.41.

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

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 21,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,252.01. This trade represents a 31.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 3,947 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $150,183.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,191.45. This represents a 95.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $954,108. Corporate insiders own 11.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3,714.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 121.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $153,000. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.