Lynda Scearcy Sells 5,000 Shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Lynda Scearcy sold 5,000 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,054,655. This represents a 14.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lynda Scearcy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, December 9th, Lynda Scearcy sold 100 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.68, for a total transaction of $3,268.00.
• On Monday, November 10th, Lynda Scearcy sold 1,000 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $30,000.00.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BSRR opened at $35.05 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $466.17 million, a PE ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.81. Sierra Bancorp has a 12 month low of $22.42 and a 12 month high of $35.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $40.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.57 million. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 19.70% and a return on equity of 11.17%. Research analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BSRR shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sierra Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BSRR. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 10,046 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $784,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $282,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 14,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 4,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $71,000. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ: BSRR) is a bank holding company headquartered in Porterville, California. The company operates through its banking subsidiary, offering a full suite of financial services to individual and commercial clients. With a community-focused approach, Sierra Bancorp emphasizes relationship banking and local market expertise.

Its core business activities include deposit-taking and lending. On the deposit side, Sierra Bancorp provides checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts.