Private Management Group Inc. Sells 36,567 Shares of Sierra Bancorp $BSRR

Key Points

• Private Management Group Inc. cut its Sierra Bancorp stake by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 36,567 shares and leaving it with 546,139 shares worth about $17.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted positions, while insiders were active too: director Vonn R. Christenson and EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold shares, and insiders have sold 25,000 shares over the last 90 days.
• Sierra Bancorp reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.96 per share and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.26, while analysts currently view the stock as a Hold with a consensus price target of $37.00.

Private Management Group Inc. lowered its position in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Free Report) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 546,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 36,567 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc. owned 4.11% of Sierra Bancorp worth $17,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 733,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,207,000 after acquiring an additional 22,931 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 238,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,085,000 after acquiring an additional 33,048 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 129,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,472 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,614,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 371.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 64,365 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 50,714 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 1,053 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $40,024.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,183.89. This trade represents a 84.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Hugh F. Boyle sold 10,000 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.21, for a total value of $382,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at $832,252.01. This trade represents a 31.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $954,108. Company insiders own 11.83% of the company's stock.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ BSRR opened at $40.25 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.11 and a 200-day moving average of $35.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $526.47 million, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.77. Sierra Bancorp has a 52 week low of $26.49 and a 52 week high of $41.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $38.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.68 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.67% and a net margin of 22.53%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Sierra Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BSRR. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 27th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Sierra Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sierra Bancorp has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.00.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp NASDAQ: BSRR is a bank holding company headquartered in Porterville, California. The company operates through its banking subsidiary, offering a full suite of financial services to individual and commercial clients. With a community-focused approach, Sierra Bancorp emphasizes relationship banking and local market expertise.

Its core business activities include deposit-taking and lending. On the deposit side, Sierra Bancorp provides checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts.

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