Kennedy Capital Management LLC Sells 4,621 Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,621 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned about 0.23% of Banner worth $5,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BANR. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Banner in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Banner during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banner by 167.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Banner by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Banner by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. 87.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BANR has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Banner from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Banner in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.20.

Banner Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BANR traded up $0.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $60.15. 163,507 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 235,358. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $64.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.01. Banner Co. has a 12-month low of $42.00 and a 12-month high of $78.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 0.94.

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.06. Banner had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $159.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banner Co. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banner Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Banner's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

Banner Profile

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.