Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.20.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Banner Trading Up 2.9 %

BANR opened at $64.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banner has a 12 month low of $42.00 and a 12 month high of $78.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.70.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.11. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Banner will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Banner’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Banner by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 110,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,372,000 after purchasing an additional 20,326 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Banner by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 41,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 3,185 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 241.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 117,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,846,000 after buying an additional 83,140 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

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.