Martingale Asset Management L P Buys 5,780 Shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Martingale Asset Management L P grew its stake in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,780 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned about 0.29% of Sierra Bancorp worth $1,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $216,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 12,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,810 shares during the period. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BSRR opened at $24.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $336.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.43. Sierra Bancorp has a 52-week low of $17.70 and a 52-week high of $35.13.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 11.55%. Analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.59%.

Insider Transactions at Sierra Bancorp

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th.

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.