Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $62.03 and last traded at $61.78, with a volume of 17569 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BANR shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Banner from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Banner from $51.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banner currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.80.

Banner Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.05.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.03. Banner had a net margin of 20.93% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $149.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.66 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Banner Co. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. Banner’s payout ratio is currently 39.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Banner by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 700,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,506,000 after acquiring an additional 20,041 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Banner by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,187,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,301,000 after purchasing an additional 40,988 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Banner by 58.3% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 57,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,736,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Banner by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Banner by 2.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 138,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

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.