SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New $352,000 Investment in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,524 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 53.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Banner by 21.8% during 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 last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Banner during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BANR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Banner from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.83.

Banner Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $64.02. The company had a trading volume of 383,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 216,890. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Banner Corporation has a 1-year low of $47.20 and a 1-year high of $78.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.79.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 20.77%. The firm had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.72 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Research analysts predict that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders 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 3.00%. Banner's payout ratio is presently 37.72%.

Banner 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.