Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $41.26 and last traded at $40.94, with a volume of 4700 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on BSRR shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sierra Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $531.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.87.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $38.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.68 million. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 12.67%. On average, research analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.32%.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In other Sierra Bancorp news, Director Vonn R. Christenson sold 1,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $40,024.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 189 shares in the company, valued at $7,183.89. This represents a 84.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christopher G. Treece sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $381,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 39,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,647.10. This represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $954,108 in the last 90 days. 11.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sierra Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSRR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Sierra Bancorp by 3.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 733,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,207,000 after buying an additional 22,931 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 32.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 344,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,673,000 after buying an additional 85,098 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 16.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 238,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,085,000 after buying an additional 33,048 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 132,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,346,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 19.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 98,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after acquiring an additional 15,877 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Sierra Bancorp

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.