Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 83,400 shares, a drop of 22.1% from the October 15th total of 107,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 34,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of BSRR opened at $31.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $453.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Sierra Bancorp has a 12 month low of $17.69 and a 12 month high of $35.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.01.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $52.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.30 million. Sierra Bancorp had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 10.48%. Equities analysts predict that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Sierra Bancorp’s payout ratio is 38.10%.

Insider Activity at Sierra Bancorp

In related news, EVP Michael Olague sold 3,098 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $85,814.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $343,729.30. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total transaction of $81,889.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 150,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,838,031.12. The trade was a 1.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,154 shares of company stock worth $330,556. Company insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BSRR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,737,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 119,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,675,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Sierra Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

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.