Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Down 3.1 %

Sierra Bancorp stock opened at $27.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Sierra Bancorp has a twelve month low of $17.69 and a twelve month high of $35.13. The company has a market capitalization of $386.52 million, a P/E ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.89.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 19.90%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 35.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $35,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,024. This trade represents a 20.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $110,987.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $386,540.35. This represents a 22.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,668 shares of company stock worth $146,346 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $137,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.