Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Sells $40,024.53 in Stock

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Vonn Christenson sold 1,053 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $40,024.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,183.89. This represents a 84.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BSRR opened at $38.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $499.53 million, a PE ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Sierra Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.49 and a fifty-two week high of $38.87.

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

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two equities research 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 17,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 47,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

About Sierra Bancorp

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.