Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11, Yahoo Finance reports. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The firm had revenue of $51.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

Sierra Bancorp stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.12. The company had a trading volume of 4,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,441. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.56. Sierra Bancorp has a 1-year low of $16.75 and a 1-year high of $31.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $454.35 million, a PE ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 4,753 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.29, for a total value of $105,944.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,858.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.