Banner Corporation $BANR Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 664,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,527 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.95% of Banner worth $41,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 836.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,000 after buying an additional 20,190 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banner in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,147,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Banner by 14.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 134,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,838,000 after acquiring an additional 17,067 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Banner by 93.8% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 488,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,597,000 after acquiring an additional 236,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Banner by 241.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 454,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,498,000 after acquiring an additional 321,522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BANR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Banner from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Banner from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Banner from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banner presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Banner Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BANR opened at $64.65 on Monday. Banner Corporation has a 12-month low of $57.05 and a 12-month high of $69.83. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.11.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.21. Banner had a net margin of 23.24% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The company had revenue of $168.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.60 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Banner Corporation will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Banner’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Banner’s payout ratio is currently 35.02%.

Banner Company Profile

Banner Corporation, through its principal subsidiary Banner Bank, operates as a regional commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington. Founded in 2000 as a bank holding company, Banner traces its origins to community banking roots in Eastern Washington dating back to the late 19th century. Over the past two decades, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, establishing a strong presence throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The company offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services for individual and business clients.