Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.26

Key Points

• Sierra Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, payable May 11 to shareholders of record on May 4, equal to an annualized $1.04 and a ~2.9% yield.
• The dividend appears sustainable, with a current payout ratio of 33.2% and analysts projecting $3.78 EPS next year (implying a projected payout ratio of ~27.5%); the company has raised its dividend for two consecutive years.
• BSRR traded at $36.27 (up 0.6%), with a market cap of about $475M and a P/E of 11.6; the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.97 vs. $0.85), while analysts' consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of 0.26 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, May 11th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th.

Sierra Bancorp has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Sierra Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 33.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sierra Bancorp to earn $3.78 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.5%.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ BSRR traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.27. 64,373 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 62,231. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.03. The stock has a market cap of $474.77 million, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.77. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $24.06 and a 1 year high of $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $40.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.04 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 20.96%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSRR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sierra Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

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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