Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Price Target to $29.00

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $23.00 to $29.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sierra Bancorp from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 4th.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 0.1 %

Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $30.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.37 and a 200-day moving average of $20.63. The company has a market cap of $440.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.91. Sierra Bancorp has a one year low of $16.75 and a one year high of $31.85.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $51.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 17.77%. On average, equities analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 38.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sierra Bancorp news, EVP Michael Olague sold 4,753 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,353 shares in the company, valued at $698,858.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $94,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in Sierra Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $122,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Sierra Bancorp by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Sierra Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

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.