Franklin Resources Inc. Has $402,000 Stock Holdings in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 80.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,384 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Banner were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 373,037 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Banner by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,379,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,111,000 after buying an additional 49,457 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Banner by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,073,000 after acquiring an additional 11,808 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Banner by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 738,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,300,000 after acquiring an additional 38,454 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Banner by 10,213.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,371,000 after acquiring an additional 628,426 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.20.

Banner Stock Performance

BANR opened at $60.49 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.02. Banner Co. has a 1 year low of $42.00 and a 1 year high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is 37.72%.

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.