Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Shares Acquired by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,790 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Banner worth $3,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BANR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Banner by 3.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,330,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,219,000 after acquiring an additional 43,398 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Banner in the third quarter worth approximately $439,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Banner by 2.7% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 203,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,115,000 after acquiring an additional 5,380 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Banner by 79.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,328,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,132,000 after purchasing an additional 588,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Banner by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 432,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,464,000 after purchasing an additional 11,278 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BANR shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price target on Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total transaction of $113,445.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,653,876.84. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Banner Stock Down 1.5 %

BANR stock opened at $73.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. Banner Co. has a one year low of $42.00 and a one year high of $78.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.12. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.22%. The firm had revenue of $213.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

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.