Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Downgraded to “Neutral” by Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Banner (NASDAQ:BANR – Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published Friday morning, MarketBeat reported.

BANR has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded Banner from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, June 8. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and gave a $53.00 price target on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Banner from $54.00 to $51.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Banner from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a neutral rating on the company in a research note on Friday, April 19. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the firm currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Read our latest stock report on BANR

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR opened at $58.16 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.85. Banner has a one-year low of $39.31 and a one-year high of $61.34. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.06.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17. The financial services company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Banner had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 20.93%. The company had revenue of $144.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.67 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Banner will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will receive a dividend of $0.48. This represents an annualized dividend of $1.92 and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date for this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.92%.

Institutional investors weigh in on Banner

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Banner by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,187,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,301,000 after purchasing an additional 40,988 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Banner by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,257,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,934,000 after purchasing an additional 62,774 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banner by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 988,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,940,000 after purchasing an additional 21,447 shares in the last quarter. Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Banner by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 820,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,947,000 after purchasing an additional 70,143 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Banner by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 717,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,419,000 after purchasing an additional 25,525 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

About Banner

(Get free report)

Banner Corporation is the bank holding company for Banner Bank, which is engaged in providing commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, corporations, and public sector entities in the United States. It accepts a variety of 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.