Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Banner Corporation $BANR

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 577 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Banner were worth $285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Banner by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 171,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,942,000 after acquiring an additional 4,503 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Banner by 173.9% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 70,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 44,597 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in Banner by 39.1% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 39,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,517,000 after acquiring an additional 11,089 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Banner by 26.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Banner by 141.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 17,030 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Stock Performance

Banner stock opened at $61.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Banner Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.01 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.91.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. Banner had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The firm had revenue of $168.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.52 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BANR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Banner from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Banner presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.40.

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.