Wall Street Zen Upgrades Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) to Hold

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on BANR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Banner from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Banner from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.17.

Banner Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR traded down $1.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 222,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,946. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88. Banner has a fifty-two week low of $51.14 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $64.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.83. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.89.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.03. Banner had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 21.15%. The business had revenue of $162.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.96 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Banner

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Banner by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,120 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Banner by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Banner by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 952 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Banner by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Banner by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banner Company Profile

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.

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