Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $39.00 and last traded at $38.6850, with a volume of 6672 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BSRR. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $501.15 million, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.76.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.14. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 12.67%. The company had revenue of $38.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.68 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, CFO Christopher G. Treece sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total transaction of $381,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 39,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,492,647.10. This represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 1,053 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $40,024.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,183.89. The trade was a 84.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 15,000 shares of company stock valued at $572,008 in the last three months. 11.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 5.2% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 63,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 175.8% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 35,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 22,779 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 157.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 2.8% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 17,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ: BSRR) is a bank holding company headquartered in Porterville, California. The company operates through its banking subsidiary, offering a full suite of financial services to individual and commercial clients. With a community-focused approach, Sierra Bancorp emphasizes relationship banking and local market expertise.

Its core business activities include deposit-taking and lending. On the deposit side, Sierra Bancorp provides checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts.