Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Short Interest Down 10.9% in November

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 66,500 shares, a drop of 10.9% from the November 15th total of 74,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 37,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Sierra Bancorp Trading Up 0.2 %

BSRR traded up $0.06 on Monday, hitting $31.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,672. The company has a market cap of $449.09 million, a PE ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.92. Sierra Bancorp has a 12-month low of $17.69 and a 12-month high of $35.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.54.

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

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Sierra Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sierra Bancorp

In other Sierra Bancorp news, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total transaction of $144,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 313,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,081,462.60. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total value of $81,889.60. Following the transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,056 shares of company stock worth $244,741. Insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in Sierra Bancorp during the third quarter worth $29,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 9.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 16,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 119,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,675,000 after buying an additional 3,531 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 74,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,166,000 after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BSRR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Sierra Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.