Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,090 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned about 0.33% of Sierra Bancorp worth $1,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Sierra Bancorp by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $385,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 16,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 301.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 12,690 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BSRR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $110,987.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,540.35. The trade was a 22.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $35,328.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,024. This represents a 20.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,393 shares of company stock valued at $166,994 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR opened at $28.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.74. The company has a market capitalization of $394.20 million, a PE ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.89. Sierra Bancorp has a twelve month low of $17.70 and a twelve month high of $35.13.

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

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.59%.

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.