Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Boosts Position in Banner Corporation $BANR

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its position in shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 260.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 96,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,666 shares during the quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL’s holdings in Banner were worth $6,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BANR. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Banner during the third quarter worth about $16,500,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Banner by 19.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,011,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,878,000 after purchasing an additional 165,557 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of Banner by 307.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,380,000 after purchasing an additional 131,140 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Banner by 50.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 295,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,363,000 after purchasing an additional 99,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Banner by 33.2% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 340,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,284,000 after purchasing an additional 84,805 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BANR. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Banner from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Banner from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of Banner stock opened at $62.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.43 and a 200 day moving average of $62.78. Banner Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.64 and a 12 month high of $69.83. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.09. Banner had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 22.26%.The company had revenue of $169.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.23 million. On average, research analysts expect that Banner Corporation will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.46%.

About Banner

Banner Corporation, through its principal subsidiary Banner Bank, operates as a regional commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington. Founded in 2000 as a bank holding company, Banner traces its origins to community banking roots in Eastern Washington dating back to the late 19th century. Over the past two decades, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, establishing a strong presence throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The company offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services for individual and business clients.