Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $59.68, but opened at $57.79. Banner shares last traded at $61.18, with a volume of 33,881 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BANR shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Banner has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.20.

Banner Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.01.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $159.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Banner’s payout ratio is 37.72%.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BANR. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Banner during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. USA Financial Formulas boosted its stake in Banner by 69.1% in the 1st quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Banner during the 1st quarter worth approximately $352,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 53.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banner by 39.8% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 12,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 3,681 shares during the period. 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.