Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Receives $74.20 Average Target Price from Analysts

Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.20.

BANR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Banner in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Banner Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BANR opened at $56.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Banner has a twelve month low of $42.00 and a twelve month high of $78.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.57 and its 200-day moving average is $67.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.07.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Banner Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. Banner’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banner

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BANR. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Banner by 3.0% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Banner by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Banner by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 167.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.