Northern Trust Corp Boosts Holdings in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 487,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,544 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.42% of Banner worth $32,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BANR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Banner by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,379,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,111,000 after purchasing an additional 49,457 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Banner in the 4th quarter worth $274,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banner by 816.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Banner by 10,213.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,371,000 after acquiring an additional 628,426 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Banner by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 134,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,951,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BANR shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banner presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Banner Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANR opened at $62.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.90. Banner Co. has a 1-year low of $44.59 and a 1-year high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.