Banner Corporation $BANR Stock Holdings Increased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 7.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.12% of Banner worth $2,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banner by 20.3% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,047,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,554,000 after purchasing an additional 345,607 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banner by 122.8% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,142,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,888,000 after purchasing an additional 630,004 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Banner by 11.6% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 845,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,936,000 after purchasing an additional 88,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the first quarter worth approximately $40,078,000. 87.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of BANR opened at $63.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Banner Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.01 and a twelve month high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.03. Banner had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 21.15%.The company had revenue of $162.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.96 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BANR shares. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Banner from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.17.

Banner Company 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.