Teacher Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BANR. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 11.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 65,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 6,790 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Banner by 395.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 166,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,894,000 after buying an additional 132,586 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Banner by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Banner by 13.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Banner by 3.0% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Banner Stock Up 0.6 %

BANR stock opened at $63.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $67.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.24. Banner Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.11. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. As a group, analysts forecast that Banner Co. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Banner 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.