Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases 21,000 Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 58.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Banner were worth $2,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BANR. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Banner in the third quarter worth $45,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Banner during the 3rd quarter worth about $836,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Banner by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 55,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,345,000 after acquiring an additional 5,827 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in Banner by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Banner by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 315,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,351,000 after acquiring an additional 37,543 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BANR shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Banner from $54.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com cut Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 8th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Banner from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Banner from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.20.

Banner Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:BANR traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.51. The stock had a trading volume of 127,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 185,589. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.17 and its 200-day moving average is $47.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 1.06. Banner Co. has a one year low of $39.31 and a one year high of $55.66.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Banner had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 21.62%. The business had revenue of $144.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $150.67 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Banner Co. will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. Banner’s payout ratio is 39.92%.

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.