Analysts Set Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) Price Target at $70.83

Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.83.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BANR. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Banner from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BANR. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banner during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Banner by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Banner by 53.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas grew its stake in shares of Banner by 69.1% during the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Banner by 816.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of BANR traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $61.85. 554,481 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 216,614. The stock's fifty day moving average is $62.12 and its 200 day moving average is $65.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Banner has a 1-year low of $46.03 and a 1-year high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.72 million. Banner had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 9.95%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banner will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Banner's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.72%.

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.