4,374 Shares in Banner Corporation $BANR Bought by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Banner Corporation, purchasing 4,374 shares valued at approximately $279,000.
• Banner Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.9%.
• Research analysts report a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Banner, with an average price target of $70.17.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Banner by 13.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Banner by 5.0% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Banner by 53.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas grew its position in shares of Banner by 69.1% in the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Banner by 20.1% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,989 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BANR. Wall Street Zen lowered Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Banner from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Three investment 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.17.

Banner Trading Up 3.5%

NASDAQ:BANR traded up $2.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $67.76. 189,714 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 140,130. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $65.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.73. Banner Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.01 and a twelve month high of $78.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Banner's payout ratio is presently 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.