JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 23,758 Shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,758 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.62% of Sierra Bancorp worth $2,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $385,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 301.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 12,690 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 321,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,278,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 36,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 10,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $35,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,024. This trade represents a 20.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $110,987.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,540.35. This trade represents a 22.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,393 shares of company stock valued at $166,994 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR opened at $26.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.94 million, a PE ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.76. Sierra Bancorp has a 52 week low of $19.31 and a 52 week high of $35.13.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 19.90%. Analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.59%.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.