KBC Group NV Buys 522 Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) by 46.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Banner were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BANR. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Banner by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,785,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,334,000 after buying an additional 193,434 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Banner by 3.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,330,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,219,000 after buying an additional 43,398 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Banner by 79.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,328,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,132,000 after purchasing an additional 588,591 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Banner by 1.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Banner by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 443,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,389,000 after purchasing an additional 20,978 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Banner Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Banner stock opened at $69.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.66 and a 200 day moving average of $64.76. Banner Co. has a 1 year low of $42.00 and a 1 year high of $78.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its quarterly 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banner Co. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Banner’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BANR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price target 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. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price target on Banner in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.20.

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.