Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Upgraded by Janney Montgomery Scott to “Buy” Rating

Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. Janney Montgomery Scott currently has $71.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective 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. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Banner in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banner presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.83.

Banner Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BANR stock opened at $61.75 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Banner has a 1 year low of $43.63 and a 1 year high of $78.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.08.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.72 million. Banner had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 10.03%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Banner will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Banner’s payout ratio is 37.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,073,000 after acquiring an additional 11,808 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banner by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,379,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,111,000 after purchasing an additional 49,457 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Banner in the 4th quarter valued at $274,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Banner by 10,213.3% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 634,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,371,000 after purchasing an additional 628,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Banner by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,413,000 after buying an additional 29,174 shares during the period. 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.