GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 198 Shares of Banner Corporation $BANR

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 26.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Banner were worth $61,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banner by 1.4% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Banner by 39.1% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 39,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after acquiring an additional 11,089 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Banner by 48.9% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 8,050 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Banner by 173.9% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 70,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 44,597 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Banner by 582.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 40,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after purchasing an additional 34,980 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BANR. Wall Street Zen downgraded Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Banner in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Banner from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.17.

Banner Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANR opened at $64.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.27 and its 200-day moving average is $63.84. Banner Corporation has a 1-year low of $54.01 and a 1-year high of $78.05.

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

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. Banner’s payout ratio is 36.57%.

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.