Brokerages Set Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) PT at $70.17

Key Points

• Banner Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from five brokerages, with two analysts recommending a hold and three a buy.
• The company's stock has a 12-month price target average of $70.17, with recent ratings adjusting between $65.00 and $73.00 from different firms.
• Banner plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $1.92 and a dividend yield of 3.0%.

Shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.1667.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BANR shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. 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 reduced 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 report on Monday, April 21st. DA Davidson lifted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday.

Banner Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $62.51. The stock had a trading volume of 158,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,625. Banner has a 12 month low of $52.86 and a 12 month high of $78.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $64.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.39. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 0.93.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.03. Banner had a net margin of 21.15% and a return on equity of 10.06%. The business had revenue of $162.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.96 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Banner will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Banner's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banner

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BANR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Banner in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,075,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Banner by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Banner by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 25,338 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 6,097 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Banner by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Banner by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,792 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company's stock.

Banner Company 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.