Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Banner from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company 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 report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.83.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.83. The company had a trading volume of 185,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 216,534. The company's 50 day moving average price is $61.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.90. Banner has a 52-week low of $44.59 and a 52-week high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $159.88 million for 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 earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $92,111,000 after purchasing an additional 49,457 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Banner in the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 816.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 10,213.3% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,371,000 after acquiring an additional 628,426 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Banner by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 134,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,951,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637 shares during the period. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.