Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 15,100 Banner Corporation $BANR

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 15,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $916,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Banner by 114.6% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,943,000 after buying an additional 25,903 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Banner by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $897,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its position in shares of Banner by 265.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 30,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 22,392 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Banner by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 144,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,037,000 after purchasing an additional 27,899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BANR shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Banner from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Banner from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Banner from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banner currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.00.

Banner Price Performance

NASDAQ:BANR opened at $67.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Banner Corporation has a 12-month low of $57.05 and a 12-month high of $69.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.83.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. Banner had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 23.24%.The business had revenue of $168.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.60 million. Equities research analysts expect that Banner Corporation will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.02%.

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.