Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Short Interest Up 20.9% in December

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 887,700 shares, an increase of 20.9% from the November 30th total of 734,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 234,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total value of $113,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,653,876.84. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Banner by 287.1% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Banner by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Banner during the 2nd quarter valued at $152,000. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Banner during the third quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Princeton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banner in the third quarter valued at $255,000. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BANR shares. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banner currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.00.

Banner Stock Up 0.2 %

BANR stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 53,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,596. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $70.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Banner has a twelve month low of $42.00 and a twelve month high of $78.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 1.07.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $213.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.95 million. Banner had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 20.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Banner will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

About Banner

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.