Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $36.38 and traded as high as $41.10. Sierra Bancorp shares last traded at $40.77, with a volume of 28,176 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on BSRR. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $533.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.38.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.14. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 12.67%. The company had revenue of $38.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.68 million. On average, research analysts expect that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.32%.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 3,947 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $150,183.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,191.45. The trade was a 95.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Christopher G. Treece sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $381,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 39,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,647.10. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $954,108. 11.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 733,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,207,000 after buying an additional 22,931 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 344,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,673,000 after purchasing an additional 85,098 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 238,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,085,000 after purchasing an additional 33,048 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 132,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,346,000 after purchasing an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 98,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after purchasing an additional 15,877 shares during the period. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ: BSRR) is a bank holding company headquartered in Porterville, California. The company operates through its banking subsidiary, offering a full suite of financial services to individual and commercial clients. With a community-focused approach, Sierra Bancorp emphasizes relationship banking and local market expertise.

Its core business activities include deposit-taking and lending. On the deposit side, Sierra Bancorp provides checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts.