Short Interest in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Increases By 20.9%

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 887,700 shares, a growth of 20.9% from the November 30th total of 734,300 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 234,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Banner Trading Up 0.3 %

BANR traded up $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $66.90. The company had a trading volume of 25,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,519. Banner has a 12-month low of $42.00 and a 12-month high of $78.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.10. The company has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 1.07.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $213.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.95 million. Banner had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 20.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Banner will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of Banner stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total transaction of $113,445.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,653,876.84. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banner

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Banner by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 432,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,464,000 after buying an additional 11,278 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Banner by 4.4% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 144,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,159 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Banner by 38.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares during the period. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 16.6% during the second quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 230,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,430,000 after purchasing an additional 32,700 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 0.6% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 740,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,735,000 after purchasing an additional 4,323 shares during the period. 87.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BANR. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

About Banner

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.