Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Vonn R. Christenson Sells 725 Shares of Stock

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $20,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382.72. This represents a 79.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BSRR stock opened at $28.47 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.79. The company has a market cap of $397.56 million, a PE ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 0.89. Sierra Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $17.69 and a fifty-two week high of $35.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 19.90%. Equities analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BSRR. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 74,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after acquiring an additional 3,752 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,146,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 12,077 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 176,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,111,000 after buying an additional 28,495 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 194,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,619,000 after buying an additional 21,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.