Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.00.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BANR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Banner from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banner from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Banner in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Banner from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, June 4th.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of Banner stock opened at $65.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Banner has a 12 month low of $57.05 and a 12 month high of $69.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.45.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) last posted its 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 return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 23.24%.The company had revenue of $168.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.60 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Banner will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banner

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Banner by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,837,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,439,000 after acquiring an additional 44,249 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Banner by 0.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,177,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,104,000 after acquiring an additional 18,077 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Banner by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,776,000 after acquiring an additional 6,835 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Banner by 19.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,011,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,878,000 after acquiring an additional 165,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC boosted its holdings in Banner by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 749,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,938,000 after acquiring an additional 113,632 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.33% of the company’s stock.

About Banner

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.