Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Sets New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $67.72 and last traded at $67.00, with a volume of 21314 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.86.

The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.12. Banner had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 20.93%. The company had revenue of $213.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Banner’s payout ratio is currently 39.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BANR shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Banner from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Banner from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.80.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Banner by 58.3% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 57,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,736,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Banner in the first quarter valued at $1,025,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Banner by 1.0% during 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. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Banner by 3.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Banner in the 1st quarter valued at about $247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Stock Up 1.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.07.

Banner Company Profile

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.