Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $3.31 Million Stock Holdings in Sierra Bancorp $BSRR

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has lowered its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 10.4%, now holding 118,801 shares valued at approximately $3.31 million.
• Sierra Bancorp recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.78, exceeding estimates and generating a revenue of $39.21 million for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, yielding 3.2% annually, alongside a payout ratio of 34.60%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 118,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,846 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.86% of Sierra Bancorp worth $3,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSRR. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $242,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 98.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $282,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 9,193 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.41, for a total transaction of $261,173.13. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $250,263.69. This represents a 51.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 976 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.25, for a total transaction of $28,548.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at $93,044.25. This trade represents a 23.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,169 shares of company stock valued at $529,844 over the last three months. 11.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Zacks Research lowered shares of Sierra Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.50.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BSRR traded down $0.80 on Friday, hitting $30.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 88,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,327. The company has a market capitalization of $411.51 million, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Sierra Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.42 and a fifty-two week high of $35.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.58.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 20.09% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The business had revenue of $39.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.47 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Sierra Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 34.60%.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.