Merriman Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Merriman Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 310 shares during the quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Banner worth $1,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Banner by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 17,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Banner by 3.9% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Banner by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 30,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Banner by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BANR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Banner from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Banner from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Banner from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of Banner stock opened at $61.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Banner Co. has a twelve month low of $39.31 and a twelve month high of $61.77.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.03. Banner had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 20.93%. The company had revenue of $149.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.66 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Banner Co. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.92%.

Banner Profile

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.