Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $1.70 Million Position in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,226 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Banner were worth $1,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in Banner by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 37,390 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Banner by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,413,000 after buying an additional 29,174 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Banner by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Banner in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Banner by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down previously from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.83.

Banner Trading Up 2.0 %

Banner stock opened at $63.16 on Friday. Banner Co. has a 52 week low of $44.59 and a 52 week high of $78.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.99.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. The company had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Banner Co. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

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.