Foundry Partners LLC Increases Stake in Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Free Report) by 19.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 176,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,495 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC owned 1.25% of Sierra Bancorp worth $5,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 680,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $94,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 45.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,675,000 after acquiring an additional 3,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sierra Bancorp

In other news, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total value of $81,889.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 150,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,838,031.12. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of Sierra Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total transaction of $144,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,081,462.60. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,056 shares of company stock worth $244,741 in the last 90 days. 11.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised Sierra Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BSRR traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.39. The company had a trading volume of 34,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,381. The firm has a market cap of $466.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $29.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.38. Sierra Bancorp has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $35.13.

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.30 million. On average, analysts forecast that Sierra Bancorp will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Sierra Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Sierra Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 38.10%.

About Sierra Bancorp

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.