Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Banner Corporation has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from five analysts, with three buy recommendations and two hold ratings.
• The company's average 1-year price target among brokerages is $70.17, while shares opened at $67.03.
• Banner recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.9% and a dividend payout ratio of 36.57%.

Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.1667.

Several research firms have weighed in on BANR. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Banner from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banner

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BANR. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Banner during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Banner during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Banner by 53.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas increased its stake in Banner by 69.1% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Banner by 4,612.0% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,178 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company's stock.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of BANR traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $66.86. 30,609 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 216,105. Banner has a 52 week low of $53.78 and a 52 week high of $78.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $65.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.03. Banner had a net margin of 21.15% and a return on equity of 10.06%. The firm had revenue of $162.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.96 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Banner's dividend payout ratio is 36.57%.

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.