Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) Short Interest Up 42.2% in March

Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 898,462 shares, a growth of 42.2% from the February 26th total of 631,728 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 349,895 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banner

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Banner by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,837,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,439,000 after purchasing an additional 44,249 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,158,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,284,000 after buying an additional 5,552 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,776,000 after buying an additional 6,835 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 3.2% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,179,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,692,000 after buying an additional 36,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 19.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,011,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,878,000 after buying an additional 165,557 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BANR. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Banner from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.17.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR opened at $59.74 on Friday. Banner has a twelve month low of $54.01 and a twelve month high of $69.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.72 and its 200 day moving average is $63.06.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $169.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.23 million. Banner had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 10.46%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Banner’s payout ratio is currently 35.46%.

Banner Company Profile

Banner Corporation, through its principal subsidiary Banner Bank, operates as a regional commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington. Founded in 2000 as a bank holding company, Banner traces its origins to community banking roots in Eastern Washington dating back to the late 19th century. Over the past two decades, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, establishing a strong presence throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The company offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services for individual and business clients.