Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $36.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.51 million. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 11.55%.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Up 2.8 %

Sierra Bancorp stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.36. The stock had a trading volume of 21,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,316. Sierra Bancorp has a one year low of $19.77 and a one year high of $35.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.22. The company has a market capitalization of $378.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.76. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Sierra Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $110,987.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at $386,540.35. This trade represents a 22.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 $133,024. This trade represents a 20.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,393 shares of company stock worth $166,994. 11.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSRR has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday.

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.