Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.40.

BANR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Banner from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target (down from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Friday, October 17th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Banner from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banner

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Banner during the third quarter worth about $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banner during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Banner by 26.3% during the 2nd 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. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Banner by 4,612.0% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Banner in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $99,000. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banner Stock Up 0.0%

Banner stock opened at $61.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.03. Banner has a 12 month low of $54.01 and a 12 month high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $168.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.52 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.43%.

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.