Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock Price

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.03% from the company’s previous close.

BSRR has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Sierra Bancorp from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $33.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $448.23 million, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.42 and a 1 year high of $38.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.41.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $40.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.04 million. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 11.82%. On average, equities analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sierra Bancorp news, Director Lynda Scearcy sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,054,655. The trade was a 14.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.93, for a total transaction of $28,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,207.83. This represents a 23.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $402,478 over the last three months. 11.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3,714.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 121.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $153,000. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

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.