Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 68,700 shares, a decrease of 28.1% from the August 15th total of 95,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 39,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sierra Bancorp news, EVP Michael Olague sold 14,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.95, for a total value of $436,023.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,265 shares in the company, valued at $534,351.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcphaill sold 6,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.87, for a total value of $187,732.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 20,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,279.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 14,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.95, for a total transaction of $436,023.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $534,351.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,366 shares of company stock valued at $1,370,158 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BSRR. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 657,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,707,000 after acquiring an additional 7,515 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 119,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,675,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BSRR traded up $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.22. The company had a trading volume of 24,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,180. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.80. Sierra Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $16.75 and a fifty-two week high of $31.85.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.11. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The business had revenue of $51.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 39.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BSRR shares. StockNews.com lowered Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

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.