Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th.

Sierra Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.0% per year over the last three years. Sierra Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 32.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sierra Bancorp to earn $3.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.8%.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BSRR traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.36. 21,077 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,246. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.37 and a 200-day moving average of $29.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Sierra Bancorp has a one year low of $19.77 and a one year high of $35.13. The firm has a market cap of $378.39 million, a P/E ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.76.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 19.90%. The firm had revenue of $36.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.51 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $35,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,024. This represents a 20.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $110,987.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,540.35. This represents a 22.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,393 shares of company stock valued at $166,994 over the last 90 days. 11.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

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.