GAMMA Investing LLC Has $3.07 Million Stock Position in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) by 9,712.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 47,593 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Banner worth $3,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Banner by 10,213.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,371,000 after purchasing an additional 628,426 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Banner by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,619,000 after purchasing an additional 373,037 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Banner during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,023,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Banner by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 398,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,586,000 after purchasing an additional 114,731 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Banner during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,075,000. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BANR shares. Stephens restated 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 Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Banner from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.83.

Banner Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BANR traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.52. 193,199 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 214,024. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $61.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Banner Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.38 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. The firm had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $159.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Banner Co. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Banner's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

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.