Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,493 Shares of Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Banner Co. (NASDAQ:BANR - Free Report) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,428 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,493 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Banner worth $9,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banner during the 1st quarter valued at about $202,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Banner by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 40,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,940,000 after purchasing an additional 6,470 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Banner by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,906 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Banner by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 39,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Banner by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 197,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,483,000 after acquiring an additional 51,800 shares during the last quarter. 87.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Banner

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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BANR shares. Piper Sandler set a $67.00 price target on Banner in a report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Banner from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Banner from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Banner has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.60.

Banner Stock Performance

Shares of Banner stock traded down $0.80 on Tuesday, hitting $72.07. The stock had a trading volume of 50,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 198,458. Banner Co. has a twelve month low of $42.00 and a twelve month high of $77.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $63.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Banner Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Banner's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

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.