Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $10.02 Million in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 150,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,023,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of Banner at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANR. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Banner during the 3rd quarter valued at about $623,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Banner by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 2,872 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Banner by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 6,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Banner by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,330,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,219,000 after purchasing an additional 43,398 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Banner during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,477,000. Institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on BANR shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.20.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANR opened at $63.77 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.89 and a 200 day moving average of $66.78. Banner Co. has a one year low of $42.00 and a one year high of $78.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.07.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.11. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.03%. As a group, research analysts predict that Banner Co. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

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.