Analysts Set Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) PT at $71.17

Shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.1667.

BANR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Banner from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Banner in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, December 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banner

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Banner by 173.9% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 70,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,479,000 after buying an additional 44,597 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banner by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 39,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after acquiring an additional 11,089 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Banner by 26.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 4.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,439,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,776,000 after purchasing an additional 59,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Banner by 11.6% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 845,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,936,000 after purchasing an additional 88,056 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANR opened at $66.36 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.57 and its 200 day moving average is $64.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.93. Banner has a 1-year low of $54.01 and a 1-year high of $74.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. Banner had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 21.80%.The firm had revenue of $168.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $171.52 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. Banner’s payout ratio is presently 36.43%.

About Banner

Banner Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Banner Bank that engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities in the United States. It accepts various deposit instruments, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as treasury management services and retirement savings plans.