Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Short Interest Update

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,010,000 shares, a growth of 13.8% from the December 15th total of 887,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 233,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Banner

In other Banner news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total value of $113,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,653,876.84. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banner

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Banner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in Banner by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Banner by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,413,000 after buying an additional 29,174 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Banner by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,073,000 after buying an additional 11,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banner by 97.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,512,000 after acquiring an additional 37,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANR opened at $70.11 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.09. Banner has a twelve month low of $42.00 and a twelve month high of $78.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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 given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. Banner’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BANR. Raymond James increased their price target on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 target price on Banner in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Banner Company 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.