Aberdeen Group plc Sells 47,307 Shares of Banner Corporation $BANR

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has reduced its stake in Banner Corporation by 12.8%, selling 47,307 shares, and now owns 323,136 shares valued at approximately $20.7 million.
• After several significant investments from other firms, institutional investors now own 87.33% of Banner's stock, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Banner Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 3.1%.

Aberdeen Group plc cut its position in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 323,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 47,307 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.93% of Banner worth $20,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Banner by 20.3% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,047,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $130,554,000 after purchasing an additional 345,607 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Banner by 4.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,439,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,776,000 after purchasing an additional 59,653 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in Banner by 122.8% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,142,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,888,000 after purchasing an additional 630,004 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Banner by 11.6% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 845,790 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,936,000 after purchasing an additional 88,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Banner during the first quarter worth about $40,078,000. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BANR. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Banner from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Banner in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.17.

Banner Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ BANR opened at $61.67 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.74. Banner Corporation has a one year low of $54.01 and a one year high of $78.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Banner Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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