Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Short Interest Update

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 85,600 shares, a decline of 15.2% from the May 15th total of 100,900 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 25,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 4,753 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.29, for a total value of $105,944.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,858.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 996,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,348 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,737,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after buying an additional 15,080 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 77,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 10,496 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 66,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

BSRR traded down $0.35 on Friday, hitting $20.29. 18,881 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,365. Sierra Bancorp has a 12-month low of $16.30 and a 12-month high of $23.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.47 and a 200-day moving average of $20.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.23 million, a PE ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 0.91.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $37.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.90 million. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 17.80%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BSRR. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.