First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Position in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,037 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.21% of Banner worth $4,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Banner by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,619,000 after buying an additional 373,037 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Banner by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,379,521 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,111,000 after purchasing an additional 49,457 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Banner by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 738,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,300,000 after purchasing an additional 38,454 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Banner by 10,213.3% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,371,000 after buying an additional 628,426 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,413,000 after purchasing an additional 29,174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BANR. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Banner from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Banner from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banner presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Banner Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:BANR traded up $0.36 on Wednesday, hitting $61.97. The stock had a trading volume of 187,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,686. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banner Co. has a 52 week low of $44.59 and a 52 week high of $78.05. The business's fifty day moving average is $62.00 and its 200 day moving average is $67.00. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.90.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.72 million. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.03%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Banner's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

Banner Profile

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.