Denali Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 1.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 17,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Banner by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 30,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Banner by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banner Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BANR opened at $58.54 on Wednesday. Banner Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.31 and a fifty-two week high of $61.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.94 and a 200 day moving average of $50.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.03. Banner had a net margin of 20.93% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $149.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.66 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Banner Co. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Banner’s payout ratio is 39.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Banner from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 8th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Banner from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Banner 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.