Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 54,700 shares, a drop of 8.8% from the January 15th total of 60,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 47,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $110,987.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,540.35. The trade was a 22.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $35,328.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,157 shares in the company, valued at $133,024. This trade represents a 20.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,668 shares of company stock valued at $146,346. Corporate insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSRR. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 301.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 28,426 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Sierra Bancorp by 98.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 4,659 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 131,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,811,000 after buying an additional 3,767 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 5,998 shares in the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BSRR traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $30.74. The company had a trading volume of 33,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,576. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.56. The firm has a market cap of $442.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Sierra Bancorp has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $35.13.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 19.90%. On average, analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BSRR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

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.