Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 13,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $385,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.09% of Sierra Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 85.3% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 12,077 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 194,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,619,000 after acquiring an additional 21,558 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 36,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 6,431 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 3.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 321,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,278,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 16,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Down 1.9 %

BSRR opened at $28.90 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $403.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 0.89. Sierra Bancorp has a 12 month low of $17.70 and a 12 month high of $35.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.76.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 11.55%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Sierra Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BSRR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,540.35. This trade represents a 22.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Julie G. Castle sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,024. This trade represents a 20.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,393 shares of company stock valued at $166,994 in the last three months. 11.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

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.