Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR) Shares Sold by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) by 30.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Banner worth $2,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Banner by 1.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,361,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $117,236,000 after acquiring an additional 37,780 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Banner by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,785,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $106,334,000 after purchasing an additional 193,434 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Banner by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,330,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $79,219,000 after purchasing an additional 43,398 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Banner by 79.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,328,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,132,000 after buying an additional 588,591 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Banner by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 823,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,073,000 after buying an additional 11,808 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Banner from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upped their price target on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price objective on Banner in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Banner Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 218,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,526. Banner Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.09.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $213.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.95 million. Banner had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 20.28%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Banner Co. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Banner's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP James P.G. Mclean sold 1,500 shares of Banner stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.63, for a total transaction of $113,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,653,876.84. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.