Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.83.

BANR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANR. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banner by 122.8% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,142,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,888,000 after buying an additional 630,004 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banner in the first quarter valued at $40,078,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Banner by 10,213.3% in 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 buying an additional 628,426 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banner by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,619,000 after buying an additional 373,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Banner in the fourth quarter valued at $10,023,000. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banner Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR opened at $63.50 on Wednesday. Banner has a 12-month low of $46.40 and a 12-month high of $78.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 20.77%. The business had revenue of $159.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.72 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Banner will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 29th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

Banner Company Profile

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.