Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.83.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BANR shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $77.00) on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, April 21st. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Banner from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Banner from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banner

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Banner by 97.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 37,390 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Banner by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,413,000 after purchasing an additional 29,174 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Banner by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Banner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Banner by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Price Performance

BANR stock opened at $61.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $62.84 and its 200-day moving average is $67.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Banner has a 1 year low of $43.63 and a 1 year high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $159.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.72 million. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.03%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.72%.

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.