Northern Trust Corp Acquires 70,544 Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 487,951 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 70,544 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.42% of Banner worth $32,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Banner during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Banner in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake 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 worth $111,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BANR. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Banner from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Banner from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANR traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $64.85. The stock had a trading volume of 48,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 215,011. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.94 and a 200-day moving average of $66.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.90. Banner Co. has a 12-month low of $44.59 and a 12-month high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $159.72 million. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.03%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Banner Co. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Banner's payout ratio is 37.72%.

About Banner

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.