Banner Corporation $BANR Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,436,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,825 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 4.15% of Banner worth $92,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BANR. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Banner by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Banner by 26.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Banner by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Banner stock opened at $62.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Banner Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.01 and a 52-week high of $76.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.58 and a 200 day moving average of $63.98.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $168.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.52 million. Banner had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 10.32%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Banner Corporation 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were given 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 dividend yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Banner’s payout ratio is currently 36.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Banner from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a research report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.