Nuveen Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 635,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 50,495 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 1.84% of Banner worth $42,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BANR. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Banner during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Banner by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Banner by 816.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Banner by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Banner by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BANR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down previously from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.83.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of Banner stock traded down $0.54 on Thursday, reaching $62.12. 103,781 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 216,635. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.90. Banner Co. has a 52 week low of $44.59 and a 52 week high of $78.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.05 and a 200 day moving average of $66.97.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $159.88 million during 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 posted $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Banner Co. 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, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Banner's payout ratio is 37.72%.

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.