Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Consensus "Moderate Buy": Seven analysts cover BANR (four buy, three hold) and the average 12‑month target price is $70.00.
• High institutional ownership: Institutional investors own 87.33% of shares, with major funds (Vanguard, Dimensional, Charles Schwab, Nuveen) recently increasing their stakes.
• Recent fundamentals are solid: Banner beat quarterly EPS ($1.55 vs. $1.46), trades at a P/E of 11.34, and pays a $0.50 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.00, yield 3.1%, payout ratio ~35.46%).

Shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BANR. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banner from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Banner from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Banner from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banner

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Banner by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,837,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $240,439,000 after acquiring an additional 44,249 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Banner by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,158,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $135,284,000 after acquiring an additional 5,552 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Banner by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $90,776,000 after buying an additional 6,835 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Banner by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,011,347 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,878,000 after buying an additional 165,557 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC increased its holdings in Banner by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 749,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,938,000 after buying an additional 113,632 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company's stock.

Banner Stock Performance

BANR stock opened at $63.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.73. Banner has a one year low of $56.49 and a one year high of $69.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.09. Banner had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The business had revenue of $169.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.23 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Banner's dividend payout ratio is 35.46%.

About Banner

Banner Corporation, through its principal subsidiary Banner Bank, operates as a regional commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington. Founded in 2000 as a bank holding company, Banner traces its origins to community banking roots in Eastern Washington dating back to the late 19th century. Over the past two decades, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, establishing a strong presence throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The company offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services for individual and business clients.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.