Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Short Interest Update

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 878,500 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the March 15th total of 832,300 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 198,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Banner

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its position in shares of Banner by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 14,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 38,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Banner by 126.7% in the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:BANR opened at $42.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $45.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.47. Banner has a 52 week low of $39.31 and a 52 week high of $55.66. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 1.03.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $152.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.54 million. Banner had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 24.61%. On average, analysts predict that Banner will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Banner’s payout ratio is currently 36.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BANR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Banner from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Raymond James increased their target price on Banner from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.75.

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.