HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Banner Corporation $BANR

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 230 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Banner were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Banner by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 109,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,970,000 after buying an additional 23,417 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Banner in the first quarter worth about $40,078,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Banner by 86.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 249,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,898,000 after purchasing an additional 115,238 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Banner by 43.0% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 105,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,707,000 after purchasing an additional 31,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Banner by 4.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,439,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,776,000 after purchasing an additional 59,653 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BANR has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Banner from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banner currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.17.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of BANR stock opened at $66.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.54 and its 200 day moving average is $63.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Banner Corporation has a 52-week low of $53.78 and a 52-week high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $162.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.96 million. Banner had a net margin of 21.15% and a return on equity of 10.06%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.57%.

About Banner

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.