Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

BSRR stock traded up $0.58 on Friday, reaching $32.36. The company had a trading volume of 24,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,799. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.10 and its 200 day moving average is $25.68. The company has a market cap of $459.35 million, a P/E ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Sierra Bancorp has a 1 year low of $17.53 and a 1 year high of $35.13.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $52.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.59% and a net margin of 17.91%. On average, research analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sierra Bancorp news, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total value of $144,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at $9,081,462.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Sierra Bancorp news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $85,814.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,729.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total value of $144,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,081,462.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,614 shares of company stock worth $248,666. 11.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Sierra Bancorp by 8.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 66,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 24.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 14,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

About Sierra Bancorp

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.