Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Morris A. Tharp Sells 10,000 Shares

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Director Morris A. Tharp sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.26, for a total transaction of $292,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 475,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,900,255.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:BSRR traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.39. 51,242 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,473. Sierra Bancorp has a one year low of $16.75 and a one year high of $31.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.91. The company has a market cap of $414.49 million, a PE ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.91.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $51.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 10.82%. Equities analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BSRR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 996,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,474,000 after buying an additional 3,348 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $13,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 11.1% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after purchasing an additional 15,080 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 119,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,675,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 15.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 77,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 10,496 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

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.